Facebook post falsely announces death of Tanzanian singer Diamond Platnumz

The Facebook post, published on September 7, 2021, shared two images of Diamond Platnumz, whose real name is Naseeb Abdul Juma. One shows him in a hospital bed and the other shows him holding a baby. 

Text above these pictures reads, “Diamond Platinumz Also died early this morning. He was rushed to the hospital and now dead! RIPP don’t feel bozzy to type Rip to this supastar! (sic)”.

The Facebook post also features a caption: “News from Different Source. It’s really Unfortunate. Africa is losing another Icon. RIP Sir (sic)”.

Image

A screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on September 9, 2021

The same claim was also shared on Facebook here.

This is not the first time the two images have been used alongside false claims that Platnumz has died. In 2018, the same pictures were published in Facebook posts (here and here) purporting that the musician died from injuries he received in a car crash.

Old photos

However, the pictures have been online since 2012. A reverse image search led to articles in Swahili (here and here) featuring the same images. According to these Tanzanian entertainment news sites, the musician was undergoing a medical check-up after contracting the flu.

On August 1, 2012, Platnumz replied “thank you” (in Swahili) to a “Get well soon” tweet sharing the same image of him in a hospital bed. 

Hamis Taletale, Platnumz’s manager, told AFP Fact Check that the singer was alive and well. 

“That is just misinformation which should be ignored by all people. If Diamond dies, everyone in the country could have known this in a few minutes,” Taletale said.

Platnumz has been active on social media, posting on Instagram on September 9, 2021 — two days after the false claims about his death surfaced.