Avril Lavigne: Dead or Alive?

Question

Avril Lavigne addressed a 'dumb' conspiracy theory that she died over 20 years ago and was replaced by a lookalike named Melissa. With the entertainment industry alot of misleading facts can be said on someone's death.

Answer 1

While this article does talk about Avril Lavigne's reaction to the conspiracy theory, it doesn't actually claim that it's true - that she died in 2003 and was replaced by lookalike "Melissa." Therefore the conspiracy itself can't be proven true or false. The article serves to inform the public of the conspiracy and of Lavigne's thoughts in a recent Call Her Daddy podcast episode and an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the article's source.

To legitimize the existence of the theory itself, I searched "Avril Lavigne death conspiracy" on Google and found a variety of other sources covering the topic, including articles by The Guardian, BBC, and USA Today. The USA Today article featured the same quotes from the Call Her Daddy podcasts, which verifies that as a real source. It's clear that the theory exists and this article is covering a real story, but it's impossible to know if the theory is real since it is a conspiracy.

Comments

I feel that it is not very helpful to say that it can not be proven true, as this is not a scientific theory, so the burden of proof is on the accuser. If someone said that aliens are speaking to them, it is not on me to prove that they are not.

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This "theory" is an odd topic that is the media saying a celebrity died and was just replaced by a double and is some new alter ego. There is no real evidence to claim Avril Lavigne is dead or was replaced by Melissa. I think this type of theory isn't something to be factually proven like does gravity exist.