JUSTIN Bieber is not dead. I repeat, Justin Bieber is not dead. If you were one of the many people who was shocked to see the #ripbieber trending topic on Twitter last weekend…

Well, let me tell you this: Stop crying.
That boy is still alive and was even seen handing out the Best Animated Film trophy at the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Monday.

See, he's alive!

The Twitterverse was abuzz on Sunday (and still is) with news of the teen sensation’s so-called untimely death, but what most people didn’t know was that the #ripbieber hashtag was created not for the singer, but the character he played in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Justin, who last year portrayed a troubled teenager on the hit crime television series, returned to the set for the second time and was reportedly seen filming a scene in which he dies.
This piece of news somehow got out to his diehard fans and unable to bear the demise of their beloved character (even though his second appearance on the show will only premiere in the US in February), they quickly started the #ripbieber hashtag on Twitter.
Little did these fans know that the hashtag would create more brouhaha than intended.
Earlier, gossip blogs reported that Justin was taken to a hospital after he had difficulty breathing on set and some people wrongly put two and two together and assumed that the 16-year-old singer was dead.
Of course, fans were hysterical over the news until somebody set them straight, but unfortunately, the #ripbieber hashtag had already escalated by then.
Bieber-haters jumped on the bandwagon and started tweeting things like: “I think #RIPBieber is more wishful thinking than death hoax”, “Whoever started the #RIPbieber rumour is just sick. Gettin’ everyone’s hopes up like that.”
OMG, do people really hate Justin so much that they want him dead? Well, he’s not the first celebrity to get the death-hoax treatment and he definitely won’t be the last.
In fact, the entertainment world was only recently shocked with news of Charlie Sheen dying in a snowboarding accident. Of course it wasn’t true. It was just a rumour started by some silly person who figured that the actor didn’t have enough drama in his life.
Erm, for your information, the Two And A Half Men has had his fair share of controversies – from his days married to Denise Richards, to him threatening to kill his second wife Brooke Mueller to him thrashing a New York hotel room with a porn star locked in the closet. Yeah, that dude sure doesn’t need to be dead to be in the headlines.

“The rumour about Charlie Sheen is not true. He is alive and on his way over to see his daughters,” tweeted Denise.
Even Charlie thought that it was only appropriate that he addressed the rumour, though in a funnier way. The actor told The Insider:
“When I heard on the news that I had died the other day, I quickly ran to my PC and checked the ratings for my show. Hmmm … that’s odd, all the numbers appeared solid. Perhaps even up a bit.”
He also said, “You can only imagine my relief when I discovered shortly afterward that they were referring to my actual literal death. That I can survive. I then quickly called my mum.”
Celebrities are unfortunately often the target of such rumours and if they were to be believed, Miley Cyrus, Eminem and Owen Wilson all died in separate car crashes last year.
Even Oprah Winfrey couldn’t escape the death-rumour mill when someone falsely reported that the talk show host was found sprawled across her bed, dead in her Chicago apartment. Of course it wasn’t true and Oprah didn’t think that it was a big enough deal to address the public about.
Sometimes, it is okay to let the rumour die by itself. But there are times when it is better to address these rumours immediately.
When filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad lapsed into a coma after suffering a stroke, rumours of her death started spreading. Some people started sending their condolences to her family without verifying the news.
Well, let’s hope that people have learnt their lesson and won’t blindly believe any rumour they hear … or worse, start one themselves.

Sharm says: Justin Bieber is here to stay. Accept it and move on with your lives, people. I have.