John Witherspoon, Actor Of ‘Wayans Brothers’ And ‘Friday’ Fame, Not Dead And Not Reese’s Dad

By Nadine DeNinno | August 10 2012 11:09 AM

It's been a rough week for people with the last name "Witherspoon." First, Reese was allegedly killed off in a bad Twitter rumor that circulated. Now, John Witherspoon, best known for his role in the "Wayans Brothers" and "Friday" movies, and not to be confused with the blonde bombshell's bigamist dad -- was reported dead in the Twitterverse.

Twitter/John_POPS_Spoon

It's been a rough week for people with the last name "Witherspoon." First, Reese was allegedly killed off in a bad Twitter rumor that circulated. Now, John Witherspoon best known for his role in the "Wayans Brothers" and "Friday" movies, and not to be confused with the blonde bombshell's bigamist dad -- was reported dead in the Twitterverse.

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On Thursday evening, "RIP John Witherspoon" began trending on the microblogging website, prompting the 70-year-old actor and comedian to speak out.

"What the Hell y'all talking bout on Here?!?!? I ain't "DEAD" I'm in Fr. Lauderdale at the Hard Rock Cafe Getting dat Paper #YeeTiDee," he wrote. "Hey but since I'm #Trending y'all better follow me and spread the word that "I AINT DEAD" Sh****t I'm too busy Getting this money 2 die haha."

His manager, Derek Van Pelt, confirmed to Global Grind that the rumor was just that, a rumor.

"John is fine," he said. "It's just a rumor."

Even Russell Simmons chimed in to confirm the actor was alive and well, writing, "John Witherspoon is NOT DEAD..."

Taking his death hoax with stride, Witherspoon tweeted about his YouTube cooking show, using the moment for a bit of publicity.

"Just wanna say Thank You #Twitter for making me Internet Famous for about 35-45min now yall should hook my Account up and #Verify it #Playa."

Witherspoon has acted in more than 20 movies and television shows and is best known for his role as Ice Cube's father in the "Friday" movie franchise. The actor has starred in "The Wayans Brothers" sitcom and animated-satire "The Boondocks."

While the fake death hoax was trending on Twitter, many users confused Witherspoon to be the father of actress Reese Witherspoon, who was killed off in a similar rumor on Wednesday. According to the Twitterverse, the "Legally Blonde" actress was stabbed and died of natural causes. Her real father, whose name is also John, was accused of bigamy in May -- and yes, he is also alive and well.