Web of Risks

Although I have not personally experienced a situation similar to that of the Newsweek article, I have recently heard of a student in this class being involved in one. I am not going to mention this person by name, because it is their business whether they share that information with others, or not. The person is said to have started a rumor about the actor, Zach Braff, who portrays the character “JD“ on the hit TV series Scrubs. He is said to have rumored that the actor was dead, possibly committing suicide. I believe the rumor was posted on a certain website (posted as a fake CNN news report) that was created for the specific purpose of spreading this rumor. Months later, after forgetting about this webpage, the person who created it began getting contacted by news reporters regarding its contents. Eventually Zach Braff responded to these allegations with a YouTube video denouncing the claim and called this person a “douche bag,” and having a fellow actor on the show sing him a song to poke fun at him. I’m not sure what other consequences there may have been, but I feel like the issue was resolved in a manner that was more or less harmless to both parties involved.