By: Vivek J
April 5 2023
No, this video does not show singer Celine Dion on her deathbed
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
An unrelated video of a different person from the U.S. has been shared, claiming to be that of the last moments of singer Celine Dion.
Claim ID 21c69031
Context
A video purporting to show Canadian singer Celine Dion on her deathbed is circulating on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. In the video, a woman can be seen on life support in a hospital. The video, initially shared on TikTok, also had the text "RIP Celine Dion" on it. However, the person in the video is not Celine Dion.
On December 8, 2022, Dion shared a video on her official Instagram account and noted that she had been dealing with health problems for a long time and that she was recently diagnosed with a very rare neurological disease called Stiff-Person Syndrome. "This syndrome is a rare, progressive neurological disorder that may involve stiff muscles in the trunk, arms, or legs, and greater sensitivity to noise, touch, and emotional distress, which may set off muscle spasms," according to the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke.
Following this announcement by the singer, there have been several instances of misinformation about her health on social media platforms. The video purporting to show Celine Dion on her deathbed is one of the latest such narratives.
In Fact
We did not find any official announcements or credible news reports pertaining to Celine Dion's death. Upon looking up her official social media handles, we saw her team wishing her a happy 55th birthday on March 30, 2023. It is worth noting that the video in question was shared weeks before her birthday. It is clear that Celine Dion is alive and the claims of her death are baseless.
We also conducted a reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video and discovered several TikTok videos with the same visuals in them. There were longer versions of this video shared with multiple narratives that did not mention Celine Dion. Upon closer examination, we found a 1:22-minute-long video with over 2 million views uploaded on February 27, 2023. In the comment section, the user stated that the video depicted her cousin. The user shared the same video on Facebook, with the caption, “You are loved by soo many people Tiff. This wasn't how I wanted to remember my last moments with you, but you are giving someone the chance for you to live through them. I will miss that goofy personality. I love you always beautiful." Tiff's Facebook profile states her location as Columbus, Ohio. The evidence is clear that it is not a video of Celine Dion.
The Verdict
A video of a person from Ohio, U.S., taken in a hospital before an organ donation was shared on Facebook and TikTok. This video was edited and watermarked to make it appear that Canadian singer Celine Dion had passed away. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.
