No, Michael J Fox is not dead despite CNN obituary: “Michael is doing great”
A representative for Hollywood actor Michael J Fox has confirmed he’s “doing great” despite a now-deleted article from CNN suggesting otherwise.
The article, published on April 8th, was titled ‘Celebrating The Life of Michael J Fox’ and was quickly taken down from CNN’s site after they were alerted to it being posted online in error.
In a statement, the news outlet explained that it was an accidental mistake and extended a sincere apology to the Fox family.
CNN told The Daily Beast, “The package was published in error; we have removed it from our platforms and send our apologies to Michael J. Fox and his family.”
Additionally, a spokesperson for Fox was forced to confirm to TMZ that reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated, and in fact, he’s in fine health.
They shared, “Michael is doing great. He was at PaleyFest yesterday. He was on stage and was giving interviews.”
In all likelihood, CNN had likely prepared the article a long time ago, which they will have done for numerous other actors and public figures, and it was then somehow published by accident.
Notably, Fox does have Parkinson’s disease, which he was diagnosed with in 1991, aged just 29, and his condition has gradually worsened over the years.
However, Fox has recently returned to acting with a guest role in the new season of the hit Apple TV+ series Shrinking. His character, Gerry, strikes a bond with Harrison Ford’s Paul Rhoades over their shared struggle with Parkinson’s.
During an interview with People last October, Fox explained how the show brought him out of retirement, revealing of his conversation with creator Bill Lawrence, “I said, ‘You did a show about Parkinson’s, and you didn’t call me?’ And he said, ‘Oh, you want to do it?’ And I said, ‘I’d love to do it’.”
Fox continued, “So he said, ‘Let me think about it, see what I can do.’ So he went to work on it and came up with this concept, it’s really good.”
He appears in three episodes of the new season, which premiered on January 28th, 2026.
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