No, actor Tim Allen didn’t die in a car accident

Buzz Lightyear, Santa Claus or The Tool Man — however you know him, actor Tim Allen has had a long Hollywood career. But has it come to a tragic end?

According to a June 24 Facebook post, "(Two) hours ago. Actor and comedian Tim Allen..  died suddenly at the hospital, confirmed as…" With the last sentence left unfinished, the post includes a photo of Allen, a car accident, and the headline "Breaking News. Fatal Car Accident." The link in the post does not link to an article, but triggers a browser security alert. 

(Screenshot of Facebook post)

The Facebook post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads and Instagram.)

PolitiFact found no evidence or credible reporting that Allen was recently in a car accident or died.

The "Home Improvement" star’s death would have made headlines, but no such stories exist. Wikipedia and IMDb pages about him do not list a date of death.

Although he has not posted on his social media accounts since June 18, Allen has an event at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, Ohio, scheduled for June 29 that had not been canceled as of the time of this publication.

This is not the first time viral claims have spread online that Allen died; it happened in 2020, too. 

Featured Fact-check

Viral image

stated on October 17, 2019 in a Facebook post

Says Ann Landers said, "At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At age 40, we don’t care what they think. At age 60, we discover that they have not been thinking of us at all."

We rate the claim that Allen died in a car accident False.