The American site Hollywood Unlocked seemed to apologize for mistakenly announcing Queen Elizabeth II’s death, who has been suffering a moderate case of COVID-19. However, the outlet’s creator, Jason Lee, has since claimed that the Twitter account that posted the apology was a hoax and that he still stands by the report.
In the now-deleted tweet, the site expressed its “deepest apologies” to Britain’s Royal Family and termed the incident an “embarrassing circumstance,” blaming an anonymous intern.
“It was an accident, and we’re working hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” “The intern journalist was misinformed and accidentally published the draught piece,” according to a statement sent to one of the blog’s unverified Twitter accounts. The same user later tweeted that the reporting was accurate but had been released by mistake from a draughts folder.
Lee tweeted shortly after the apology that he had “woken up to some bogus account tweeting a retraction.” We are unaware of that account, and we have not withdrawn our report. The Palace has yet to issue a formal comment. “I’ll keep you posted.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment on the Hollywood Unlocked report. Given that the palace is known to avoid commenting on online rumors, a remark on the event is unlikely.
The “exclusive” report regarding the Queen’s death, which cites “Royal Kingdom” sources, is still available on the Hollywood Unlocked website, along with a large video commercial. The posts can also be found on the outlet’s active Instagram account, which has 2.8 million followers.
“We don’t post falsehoods, and I always stand by my sources,” Lee said immediately after the report was published on Tuesday. “Waiting for the palace to issue an official announcement.”
Lee’s tweet went viral, with Twitter users pointing out the odd aspect of an obscure American site breaking the news of the Queen’s death before British agencies like the BBC or Press Association. The article’s assertion that the Queen was planning to attend Vogue editor Edward Enninful’s wedding is also questionable, considering that she has COVID and has cancelled even virtual obligations in order to heal fully.
Hollywood Unlocked, which was founded by Lee, purports to cover a wide spectrum of news, from American crime tales to celebrity gossip, with a concentration on Black celebrities.
