From Aaliyah to Jenni Rivera: 7 Celebrity Conspiracy Theories That Won’t Go Away
Who framed Aaliyah?
By ALEX ALVAREZ
It is undeniably difficult to lose someone you love. And, in the case of beloved celebrities, fans don’t have to necessarily know them personally to love and miss them. In their grief (and in light of the sometimes shocking or mysterious circumstances under which celebrities die), many fans have come up with theories — some plausible, some completely out of this world — about the deaths, disappearances, and shady cover-ups surrounding their favorite stars.
Here are just a few:
Jenni Rivera
Image via Facebook
As her fans, friends, and family only just begin to process and mourn the banda singer’s unexpected death following a plane crash, theories have begun to sprout that Jenni Rivera may still be alive.
At a press conference held Monday night outside her father’s California home, Jenni’s brothers and father told reporters that, “In our eyes, we still have faith that [Jenni] will be ok. We have no confirmation of her body being recovered dead or alive…”
Although the 43-year-old singer’s ID was found among the plane’s wreckage, her remains have yet to be identified, and some of her fans have begun to speculate that local drug cartels may have played a part in her disappearance.
Tupac Shakur
Image via wise.adam on Flickr
Although the slain rapper will live forever in our collective memory and in “hologram” form, theories remain that Tupac Shakur is, in fact, alive and living in Cuba.
The theory doesn’t come entirely out of left field, either. After her 1979 escape from a women’s prison in New Jersey, Tupac’s step-aunt, activist Assata Shakur, fled to Cuba, where she was granted political asylum and still resides to this day.
Plus? Dude is still coming out with music.
Michael Jackson
Image via kronic.it on Flickr
A prolific artist, influential trailblazer, and true icon, the King of Pop’s death struck a blow to his fans all across the globe. And many refused to believe that the man who gave us the moonwalk, “Thriller,” and the best 3D movie in the world ever could actually be gone.
So it’s little surprise that, soon after Michael Jackson’s passing in 2009, videos began to spring up all around the web purporting to show the singer alive and well. There’s even a website devoted to Jackson sightings.
Aaliyah
Image via Facebook
Aaliyah Haughton was young (only 22), beautiful, talented, and poised to become a true megastar in music and film when she died in a plane crash on a trip from the Bahamas to Florida after shooting a music video. Much had gone wrong with the flight, from excess weight to a pilot who had falsified his records of hours logged and who had cocaine and alcohol in his system at the time of the flight.
To this day, fans of the performer speculate that her death was not only planned, but the result of a vast conspiracy, often involving the Illuminati and/or producer Damon Dash.
Left Eye
Image via Facebook
Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes left TLC fans devastated following her 2002 car accident in Honduras, where she had been working on opening a an arts center for children.
Shortly after her death, which had occurred after the sports utility vehicle she was driving flipped over as she attempted to avoid an incoming truck, theories arose that her death hadn’t been an accident, but retaliation. Snopes.com even has an entry devoted to debunking the myth that Left Eye had been murdered for having run over a child with her car.
But while her death wasn’t on purpose, the singer had indeed struck and killed a 7-year-old boy days before her own death. Both events were captured on video.
Marilyn Monroe
Image via Cea. on Flickr
Practically the archetype for the “tragic celebrity gone too soon,” theories abound regarding the untimely 1962 death of actress Marilyn Monroe when she was 36. Her death has been labeled a suicide, an unfortunate accident… and even murder related to her alleged affairs with one or more Kennedy brothers. You can read a summary of these right over here.
Elvis
Image via shannon abigail simbulan on Flickr
Elvis is still alive.
Obviously.
