William Shatner Alive and Well;only his Fourth Marriage Died;Elaborate Hoax Fools Media

New York -- William Shatner took matters into his own hands when he learned about his alleged "death": he got one of the most powerful tech companies in the world to take notice and make a change. Shatner was alerted to his alleged death by a fan on Twitter, who tagged the icon with the caption, "@WilliamShatner  I thought you might want to know he you're dead." The post included a picture from some sponsored advertisement on Facebook that said the "beloved Sci-Fi actor [was] found" dead. The timing of the fake news is curious given Shatner turns 87, 88, or 89 today (depending on which news source you believe). The Newsletter regrets that it took this long to research and print the correction of Shatner's life status. The hoax was elaborate.

"Hey @facebook isn’t this your messenger app?" Shattner wrote on Twitter in response. "Thought you were doing something about this?" The company immediately took notice and Facebook's director of product management, Rob Leathern, contacted Shatner to say, "Thanks for letting us know about this. We have removed this ad and Page from Facebook."

The Shatner hoax comes as Facebook is dealing with a data breach and continued reports of fake news that took place leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said the tech giant is working on fixing these issues. Shatner responded to Facebook the only way the legendary star could: "Thank you. I’m not planning on dying so please continue to block those kinds of ads." 

William Shatner is alive, but his fourth marriage is not. After more than 18 years of marriage, the 88-year-old Star Trek actor has filed for divorce from his wife Elizabeth Shatner, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE magazine. In the documents, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Shatner lists their date of separation as Feb. 1, 2019. According to the documents, the couple has a prenuptial agreement and neither William — who has an estimated worth of $100 million — nor Elizabeth will receive any spousal support from each other.                          Courtesy of ABC News and PEOPLE magazine