Is Allen Payne still alive? Viral death rumors explained

A death hoax regarding popular nineties actor Allen Payne has been circulating online. The 53-year-old is best known for his role in the sitcom Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and his appearance on NBC’s The Cosby Show.

Fans were devastated to hear about the New York native’s "death" but the same was not confirmed online. The rumor began on November 11 on Twitter, setting followers of Allen Payne in a spiral.

Comments online read:

“Why people keep saying Allen Payne is dead?”

“Why are people saying Allen Payne dead.. this is why I hate FB!”

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How did the Allen Payne death hoax begin?

The rumors began flooding online on November 5 after a YouTube channel titled "Star News" uploaded a video. The video's title read:

“R.I.P Its With Heavy Hearts We Report Sad Death Of ‘House of Payne’ Star Allen Payne Beloved One.”

At the time of writing this article, the video had reached over 241k views. Though some fans of Allen Payne were understandably heartbroken by the fake news, many were quick to point out the hoax.

Following the YouTube video being uploaded, other websites including Celebrity Deaths reported on the same, which fuelled the hoax even further.

After discovering that the actor was alive, many took to Twitter, relieved by the news. Here are some of the happy tweets:

Allen Payne accumulated a massive fan following after appearing on The Cosby Show for two seasons. In the nineties show, he starred as Lance Rodman. After appearing on the hit show, he landed several other roles in leading series including A Different World, which was a spin-off of The Cosby Show. He also starred in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1992, where he played Marcus.

The Hollywood star has also acted in several feature films such as The Walking Dead, California Love and Blue Hill Avenue.