Wife Jasmine Tan responds to Chow Yun-fat death hoax

HONG KONG, Dec 5 — Chow Yun-fat is “as healthy as can be”, said wife Jasmine Tan today, after rumours began to circulate online yesterday that the Hong Kong screen legend had died.

Fans were sent into a frenzy yesterday after a screenshot of a news report circulated on various Chinese Weibo accounts purporting to show a news segment confirming the actor’s death.

The image was of a female news broadcaster on the air, with the headline that read: “Veteran actor Chow Yun Fat passed away in a hospital in Hong Kong today.”

A still of Chow from his 1989 action movie God of Gamblers was also included in the top left corner of the screenshot.

Chow is not the first Hong Kong celebrity to be the victim of a death hoax.

King of Comedy Stephen Chow threatened to sue the tabloids in May when they published false reports claiming he had died.