Before Poonam Pandey, celebs who faked their own deaths
Abhimanyu Mathur
On Friday, the news of model-turned-actress Poonam Pandey’s death from cervical cancer dominated news
But barely 24 hours, it was revealed that the death news was a hoax, done as part of an ill-conceived cancer awareness campaign
As Poonam received brickbats for her publicity stunt, a look at some other celebs who actually staged their own deaths
Dimitrie Stelaru: The writer and playwright staged his death in 1940 just for fun and remained hidden for years, before re-emerging in 1947
Jerry Balisok: The wrestler faked his death and changed identity to evade FBI in 1977 and was not caught until 1989 in an unrelated case
Robert Lenkiewicz: The painter infamously staged his death in 1982 to promote his forthcoming project themed around death
Patrick McDermott: The actor vanished in 2005 and was believed to be lost at sea until investigators found him living in Mexico with a different identity in 2011
Clayton Counts: The American musician’s website put out a release about his death in 2006, which was later revealed to be a hoax
David Baerten: In 2023, the Polish TikToker faked his death to check his family’s response to it and made a shock return at his own funeral