As the ancient proverb dictates, no international pandemic is complete without an accompanying celebrity hoax. In the case of our current global crisis, that honor was bestowed upon Daniel Radcliffe.
In mid-March, a Twitter account with the handle @BBCNewsTonight reported that the actor had contracted coronavirus, making him “the first famous person to be publicly confirmed.” The tweet was shared hundreds of times before Twitter suspended the account, including by journalists at the New York Times and Politico.
Another journalist, me, also thought the tweet was real for a split second and texted Radcliffe’s long-time girlfriend Erin Darke, who’s a friend, asking if she and Daniel were okay.