Matt Damon Not Dead, Just Kicking Ass on Kimmel

Year-old death reports resurface in wake of actor's publicity blitz for The Informant!

They're f--king (with) Matt Damon.

Though at least he won't be hurting for material when he turns up—alive and well—to chat with David Letterman tonight.

Fangirls' collective hearts briefly stopped beating yesterday evening when the Internet became awash with reports—or really, just one dubious and, as it happens, reycycled year-old report—that the Oscar-winning father of two had passed away.

Unlike the usual fake celebrity death reports that see victims falling off New Zealand cliffs, Damon's demise reportedly came during a trek through California's Palo Verde Mountains on Wednesday after going missing during a camping trip.

Never mind that Damon wouldn't have time to go camping even if the inclination struck, busy as he's been promoting The Informant! in both Venice and New York over the past few days.

Giving the rumor a touch (though just) of credibility, it cited TMZ as the source of the sad news.

And while the words "Matt Damon," "is" and "dead" did in fact appear on said site yesterday, it wasn't exactly a declaration.

TMZ itself never reported the Damon-is-dead story as true. Instead, during a session of TMZ Live, a commenter not affiliated with the site posed this head-scratcher: "Is matt damon dead?"

The query was followed by a link to a posting on a message board that reprinted the camping-trip-gone-awry story that falsely proclaimed the actor's death. Which, incidentally, was posted way back in October of 2008.

The rumor began making the rounds and, somewhere along the way, included Olympian and Dancing With the Stars champ Shawn Johnson in its morbid mongering. (Fear not: She too is alive, tweeting and making the NYC rounds.)

As for Ben Affleck's BFF, it's a good thing the rumor didn't start sooner. Just think of the pent-up aggression he would have let loose on Jimmy Kimmel stooge Guillermo then.

As it is, the latest chapter in his faux feud with the late-night host can be seen on Jimmy Kimmel Not Dead Live! next Tuesday.