After iconic Bollywood actor Dharmendra was hospitalised on November 11, several major media outlets published obituaries and reported that the legend was no more. Several journalists, celebrities and social media users also rushed to express condolences on social media.
Among the channels that posted about Dharmendra’s death was India Today. The outlet said his team allegedly confirmed the news, but later deleted their X post. (Archive)
Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, part of the India Today group, claimed that the actor died at Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai. Aaj Tak later deleted the post. (Archive)
Similarly, ABP News also posted that the actor died at the age of 89 and later deleted it. (Archive)
Apart from these, Zee Business, Business Standard, ABP English, Outlook and Hindustan Times also published similar reports on the actor’s death. However, these outlets later updated the reports; some turned them into ‘health updates’. News agency UNI ran a story on this in its Hindi edition, Univarta. Besides news outlets, journalist Chitra Tripathi, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and renowned lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar also shared condolences on X.
However, all of these obituaries and reports were published prematurely before the news of the actor’s death was even verified. In the rush to push out reports first, news outlets skipped the most crucial bit: to confirm whether the unfortunate news was true.
What the Family Said
While these posts were being shared on X, the actor’s family categorically denied the reports, calling it a hoax. They also called out media outlets for reporting irresponsibly on this. “How can responsible channels spread false news about a person who is recovering?” Dharmendra’s wife and BJP MP Hema Malini posted on X.
Dharmendra’s daughter, Esha Deol, wrote on her Instagram story that the media was on “overdrive” and “spreading false news”. She stressed that her father’s condition was stable and that he was recovering.
This is not the first time that Indian media outlets have carelessly published reports on an ailing celebrity’s death without verifying. Often, corrections and apologies aren’t issued either and the misinformation is clarified only after the family of those rumoured to be dead speaks up.
This happened previously in the cases of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, former President Pranab Mukherjee and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. Alt News called out misinformation by news publications in all of these instances.
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