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Miriam Valverde
By Miriam Valverde February 18, 2020

YouTube video caption falsely claims Kobe Bryant is still alive

If Your Time is short

  • Authorities confirmed Kobe Bryant was killed in Jan. 26, 2020, helicopter crash.

  • The "leaked footage" is from July 14, 2017, posted on Instagram by Kobe Bryant as he was getting a tattoo of his daughter’s name, Bianka Bella.

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Caption for a 12-second YouTube video falsely claims that Kobe Bryant is still alive.

"Kobe Bryant Is Still Alive and Faked His Death LEAKED FOOTAGE," said the caption for the video posted Jan. 26, the same day that Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other people died in a helicopter crash in California.

The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner confirmed Bryant was among the passengers killed in the crash.

The video was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

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The clip features Bryant seemingly filming himself while getting a tattoo on his right arm. Text overlayed on the video says "Is Kobe Still Alive." The post includes the tags  "#Ripkobebryant #kobebryantedits #sad."

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The original video is from July 14, 2017. Bryant posted it then to his Instagram account, showing himself getting a tattoo of his daughter’s name, Bianka Bella. He’d previously tattooed the names of his other daughters on the same arm.

The YouTube video has nearly 1 million views, but it’s inaccurate. We rate it Pants on Fire.

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