Josh Seiter, a former contestant on "The Bachelorette," has said that he is "alive and well" in response to an alarming statement announcing his death, which was posted to his verified Instagram Monday.
In a video posted to his page, Seiter, who appeared on Season 11 of "The Bachelorette" in 2015, said that his account had been hacked.
"As you can see, I am alive and well," he said in the video.
"When I saw that I had been hacked and this thing had been posted, and it was designed to appear genuine but it's really trying to invoke a response from people and troll people, it's very upsetting to me," Seiter told CNN on Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier this week reports emerged stating that Seiter had died at age 36. The news was based on a since-deleted statement on his Instagram page that read, in part, "It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share the tragic news of Joshua's unexpected passing. As all who knew him can attest, Joshua was an incredibly bright light in an increasingly dim world."
The message included information about where people struggling with mental health could get help. Seiter has been vocal about the topic on his social media.
"Somebody was playing a cruel joke and mocking my mental illness and the struggles I've gone through with depression and suicide attempts,” he said in his video post.
"I think it's egregious, I think it's disappointing," he added to CNN. "But I'm not shocked that there's someone out there (who) thought it was funny to, in this way, make fun of mental illness, make fun of suicide."
A similar incident took place earlier this month when a statement falsely announced the death of 14-year-old rapper Lil Tay on her verified Instagram account.
Speaking with TMZ, the Canadian influencer, whose real name is Claire Eileen Qi Hope, said her account was compromised and used to spread "jarring misinformation" about her death.
"It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of our beloved Claire's sudden and tragic passing," the since-deleted statement read, according to USA Today. "We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribable pain. This outcome was entirely unexpected, and has left us all in shock."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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