Johnny Depp Dead? NO! Crew Member Drowns to Death on set of 'Lone Ranger,' Celebrity Death Hoax Resurfaces

A crew member on the set of Johnny Depp's new movie "The Lone Ranger" drowned to death on September 21 while cleaning a pool that was going to be used in an upcoming action scene of the film. Since then, internet searches for "Johnny Depp Death," "Johnny Depp Dead," and "Johnny Depp Dies" have quickly resurfaced - but just so all fans are clear, 49-year-old Depp is indeed still alive and well. A slew of celebrity death hoaxes have hit the worldwide web hard these past few months, so before poor Johnny becomes another victim (yet again!) Mstarz is ready to put the morbid rumors to rest - Depp is not dead.

Law enforcement claims that the actual victim, 48-year-old Mike Bridger, was cleaning a pool tank on the L.A. movie set when he suddenly went into full cardiac arrest. His body was pulled from the tank when a witness noticed Bridger's oxygen mask was no longer emitting any bubbles - he was helicoptered to a nearby hospital and was later pronounced dead. It appears Bridger had experienced a major heart attack which led to his drowning - investigators are considering it as a "natural death."

While Depp is set to play the lead role of Tonto in the 2013 remake of "The Lone Ranger," he is in no way associated with the tragic on-set death - and he is in no way dead himself.

(More info: Johnny Depp Dead 2012 a HOAX: Why Morbid Rumor Began Trending Again on Bogus RIP Facebook Page)

There have been many death hoaxes surrounding Hollywood's "Sexiest Man Alive" - a fake CNN website once reported that Depp had passed away in a tragic car crash in France. The bogus death report hit the web in 2010 - its popularity has resurfaced on-and-off ever since. Many phony "R.I.P. Johnny Depp" Facebook memorial pages have also cropped up - all of which are, you guessed it, fake (like this one). Just Tuesday afternoon, "Johnny Depp Death" was a hot trending search term on AOL.com. So Depp fans, let's squash the rumors early by spreading the word that Depp is not dead. Thoughts and condolences go out to the friends and family of Bridger.

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