American comic Joan Rivers was the subject of a cruel Twitter death hoax.

The 78-year-old was rumored to have passed away but is actually alive and well and it was just a rumor that got out of control.

The star is the latest to be at the center of a death hoax as recently stars such as Lady Gaga, Tony Danza and Nelson Mandela were all rumored to have died but it later turned out to be untrue.

Speaking to E! News about the rumors, Rivers said: "I think this story came from Betty White - that b***h."

She added: "I don't know where this came from. I did very well performing this weekend in Ottawa."

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