Claim: Avril Lavigne died and was replaced by a clone named Marissa

Question

Fans believe that singer “Avril Lavigne” died back in the early 2000’s and was using a body double named Marissa, that was secretly referenced in songs

Answer 1

I think the article is very misleading and wrong. The title should be more broad covering celebrity death conspiracy theories, as it mentioned similar "theories" of Paul McCarntey,Beyonce, and others. Avril Lavigne recently went on an a podcast and addressed the years old theories. The singer did reach more fame than anticipated at a young age, similarly to Britney Spears, but to spread rumors that she has passed and the current music she is releasing isn't hers is very disrespectful. The rumors never acknowledge the fact that if Lavigne did die, there would've been an obvious sign of grief from her family and friends. Avril Lavigne Clone Conspiracy Explained (forbes.com)

Comments

Your response to this is well written. Not only do you address the baseless claim made in the title, you also comment on the contents of the article being related to mainly conspiracy theories. Many of these celebrity death replacement theories are baseless and are downright disrespectful to the person in question.

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Thank you for this answer, there has been many fake celebrity death-switch rumors that have plagued the entertainment industry for a long time, as you touched on with another instance being paul mcartney. To expand on your point these rumors are incredibly harmful to familys and celebritys themselves as it kind of invalidates them as humans, like imagine going around and having people tell you that you died years ago and were replaced by some random actor. if anyone would like to know more about how this effects celebritys, you can look at this opinion from TPN https://theprairienews.com/29839/opinion/opinion-medias-influence-on-celebrities/ or this article about paul mcartney from Gold Radio https://www.goldradio.com/artists/paul-mccartney/paul-is-dead-conspiracy-explained/

Answer 2

This article suggests that in the years since 2005 Pop Punk singer Avril Levigne has been using a body double. (Or at least they elaborate on the theory fans have created.)The article's only evidence is the conspirocies that fans have thought of. Other "evidence" they had to back the fans' claims up were other instances that celebrities hvae been thought of having doubles, none with significant evidence. If the article was instead to be about the increadibly wrong and maybe even hilarious theories that fans have about celebrity body doubles, it wouldn't be so exaggerated or misleading. I think this article could be the causing a pseudo event by the misinformation it's spreading by the light it is painting in.

Answer 3

This claim is not only false, but visibly satire. The author of this article makes it clear through her tone and her "sources" that this claim is not meant to be taken seriously. The original claim is said to have resurfaced on twitter, but the actual claim originated from a Brazilian fan page back in 2005. According to Metro.co.uk, the fan that leveled these claims backtracked, writing that it was a way of showing how conspiracy theories may seem true. "Many people believe everything they see on the internet, but is this really, right? Avril Lavigne has never died, has never been replaced by a look-alike, I just created this theory and thousands of people believed that this was a fact". Additionally, an article from VICE explains how when Avril released "Hello Kitty" many fans were confused because of the seemingly drastic change to her style and that's why the theory of her being replaced by a body double took hold so fast. "The Avril Lavigne behind the abhorrent slumber-party hit “Hello Kitty” is not the same Avril Lavigne behind “SK8R Boi, because, dear readers, the Avril Lavigne behind “SK8R Boi” is dead and was replaced with an actress shortly after the release of her seminal debut album "Let Go" ". Once again, another author using conspiracy theorists "reasoning" to show how unfounded fans' claims are. A general internet search about this conspiracy leads down a rabbit hole of similar sounding explanations that have no actual facts to back them up. The New York Times wrote about Lavigne's appearance on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast where "She also used the appearance to tell fans that she is alive and herself. And that she was most definitely not replaced by a body double named Melissa Vandella after dying more than 20 years ago".

Answer 4

The title of this article is misleading and doesn't provide any sound proof to support the claim that Avril Lavinge was cloned/using a body double. In the article, they talk about a change in fashion and facial features which are all common and normal signs of aging and moving through life. They claim this idea is a rumor found on a random fanbase which even furthers the fact that this idea isn't credible.

Comments

I completely agree that there is no real evidence or support that anything in this article was correct and the change in Avril Lavigne the article is discussing is just her getting older. I see you found that the article was from a fandom fanbase however, do you have any factual evidence stating that this is not true?

Answer 5

This is a satirical piece considering the hook of the article is “Did you know Avril Lavigne was replaced by a lookalike named Melissa in 2003?.” The article’s source is believed to have originated from a Brazilian fan page. Given that the claim is “Avril’s Lavigne died and was replaced by a clone” there is a small amount of evidence, mainly outstretched speculations and coincidences. The article as a whole is also misleading because it is not solely focused on Avril Lavigne, but contains brief theory summaries for other celebrities as well. An article by Forbes debunks this theory with an interview with Avril Lavigne where it explains that she did have a stunt double named Melissa for publicity reasons since Avril’s rise to fame came at such a young age, but this doesn’t verify any death or replacement. Not only is this claim false, but the article is misleading and satirical, playing into celebrity conspiracy theories.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/05/16/avril-lavigne-clone-conspiracy-explained-singer-laughs-off-false-rumor-heres-how-it-all-began/

Answer 6

In 2011, a Brazilian blog called Avril Está Morta, which translates to "Avril Is Dead" claimed that Avril Lavigne had died and was replaced by a shockingly similar-looking girl named Melissa Vandella. This blog claimed this was true due to factors such as Avril’s style on red carpets being different after 2003, “Avril” writing Melissa on her hand, and a song lyric that eludes to Avril “slipping away” from her song “Nobody’s Home”. Fans believed that she was struggling at the beginning of her career due to the pressures of fame and wanted someone else to represent her in public. Some people claimed that she died by suicide while others claimed she died in a snowboarding accident. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2024/05/16/avril-lavigne-clone-conspiracy-explained-singer-laughs-off-false-rumor-heres-how-it-all-began/

Lavigne was photographed with her mother for mother’s day and has appeared on podcasts to comment on the rumors. Fans of the rumors in the comments say things like “Hi Melissa” or “That sounds like something Melissa would say”. 

This rumor is very similar to a rumor created in the 60s that claims Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966. The reasonings are very similar, as some fans believed John Lennon sang the lyric “I buried Paul” instead of “cranberry sauce” in the song Strawberry Fields Forever. 

Other similar theories involve the Illuminati’s efforts to brainwash society by using clones to see how susceptible the public is to theories and conspiracies. The main takeaway from this theory is how fans will go to many lengths to scrutinize a celebrities appearance to generate publicity for themselves. 

BBC published this quote: “The blog was set up to "prove how easy it is to start a big internet conspiracy theory", according to BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Broderick whose reporting on the blog in 2015 accidentally spread the rumour.”

While visiting BuzzFeed Brazil in San Paulo, Broderick says “And chances are, most Americans probably haven't heard about it until recently. The BuzzFeed Brazil staff told me it was kind of an inside joke.”