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2016 has taken too many singing icons from us, including David Bowie, Prince and on Christmas Day, George Michael. And on Monday some thought Britney Spears had joined that list after a Sony Twitter account tweeted that she’d passed away.
“#RIPBritney 1981-2016”, the tweet said, followed by a second that read “britney spears is dead by accident! We will tell you more soon #RIPBritney :(“
A representative for Spears soon confirmed to CNN that she is in fact alive and well, and the updates disappeared from the @sonymusicglobal account.
A spokesperson for Sony, a label Britney is signed to, told Billboard that the “account was compromised”.
“This has been rectified. Sony Music apologises to Britney Spears and her fans for any confusion.”
Sony has not stated if the account was hacked, however it appears to be that way, as Bob Dylan’s account was also targeted. The musician appeared to tweet “Rest in peace @britneyspears”, and then re-tweeted the Sony account tweets as well as an update about a hacker group called OurMine, who could be behind the incident.
It raises questions about Sony’s cyber security after the company was hacked in 2014, resulting in company emails being leaked and leading to widespread controversy as personal information about some of their artists became public.
Unfortunately the news that George Michael had died was not a hoax – the singer passed away on Christmas morning due to heart failure. He was only 53.
