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Don’t believe this blog post about Quaden Bayles committing suicide
If Your Time is short
- A blog post claiming Quaden Bayles committed suicide is a hoax.
- It’s similar in format to another hoax suicide report on Kobe Bryant’s widow
After his mother posted a video of him sobbing and saying he wanted to die because he was being bullied for dwarfism, 9-year-old Quaden Bayles drew worldwide support, including from actor Hugh Jackman, Boston Celtics player Enes Kanter and Eric Trump, President Donald Trump’s son.
Now, a blog post is trafficking in some of the worst kind of clickbait: a hoax that the Australian child has committed suicide.
The post, which says it was published "15 mins ago" regardless of when you view it on the website, features the BBC News logo and video with this description: "The BULLIED 9-yrs old Kid ‘Quaden Bayles’, KILLED himself, Left a ‘Suicide VIDEO’ in his Phone and Sent to Everyone at his School after BULLYING Worsens. - BBC News."
Clicking on the video leads to this page, with another video that says "R.I.P. Quaden Bayles 2011-2020." The short clip shows an American news anchor saying that police found the body of a 9-year-old before abruptly stopping with this warning: "This video may show graphic content. Share to continue watching."
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It’s similar to another hoax suicide report. In February, we debunked claims that Kobe Bryant’s widow killed herself after his death. Like this post about Bayles, that one also featured the BBC News logo and an "R.I.P" video that cut off with a warning that told viewers to share it to continue watching.
BBC didn’t report on Bryant’s supposed suicide, and it didn’t report on Bayles allegedly killing himself. We found no other media coverage of such an event, either.
We rate this blog post Pants on Fire.
Our Sources
Blog post, visited March 4, 2020
Blog post, visited March 4, 2020
PolitiFact, This headline about Kobe Bryant’s wife’s death is a gruesome hoax, Feb. 3, 2020
The Washington Post, Outpouring of worldwide support for bullied Australian boy, Feb. 21, 2020
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