Jeff Goldblum Recalls New Zealand Death Hoax and His Mom's Reaction

In 2009, online rumors said the actor fell off a cliff in New Zealand and died and a few news outlets picked up the story before it was quickly debunked

By Corinne Heller Mar 28, 2018 7:52 PMTags
Jeff GoldblumDimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Like many stars, Jeff Goldblum is not immune from fake news, such as death hoaxes.

In 2009, online rumors said the actor died after falling off a cliff in New Zealand. A few news outlets picked up the story before it was quickly debunked.

"It went all over the world for a little bit for a couple of hours before I could set the record straight," Goldblum, 65, said on The Talk on Wednesday. "So people thought that I'd died. And those were the days when I had a telephone land line and my answering machine and before I could call everybody, I got a couple of messages that I wasn't able to pick up, from like, my mother. It was, 'Jeffrey, are you there? Are you there?'"

"Isn't that shocking?" he said. "So be careful about gossip. Be careful about spreading something that you haven't sourced entirely or that's not factual." 

Earlier this week, Goldblum, who reprises his Jurassic Park role in the upcoming movie Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, also talked about his mother's reaction to the death hoax on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

"Yes, someone had put online that I had fallen off a cliff in New Zealand. Before we got the word out and I could call everybody, yes, my mom. She called and was like, 'Jeffrey, are you alright? Are you alright?'" he said. "And then a friend of mine [who] very tearfully and hysterically left a message."

Soon after the death hoax spread, Goldblum appeared on The Colbert Report and poked fun at the report by starring in a tribute to himself.

In 2016, Goldblum told the New Zealand Herald that he had never even been to New Zealand.

"Could you imagine if that's the way I go? Wow. Could you imagine? 'They foretold the future, he actually did fall off a cliff in New Zealand,'" he said. "It's got to happen some way!"