Michael J. Fox Confirms He’s Alive And Doing ‘OK’

Michael J. Fox took to social media yesterday to assure folks that he is doing ‘OK’ after CNN inadvertently ran an obituary segment titled, “Remembering the life of actor Michael J. Fox.”

Fox wrote on Threads:

“How do you react when you turn on the TV and CNN is reporting your death?” he wrote. “Do you…A) switch to MNSBC, or whatever they are calling themselves these days, (B) Pour scolding hot water on your lap, if it hurts your fine, (C) Call your wife, hopefully she’s concerned but reassuring, (D) Relax, they do this once every year, (E) Ask yourself wtf ? I thought the world was ending, but apparently it’s just me and I’m ok. Love, Mike.”

Michael J. Fox speaks out after CNN sparked a death scare by releasing a video titled “Remembering the life of actor Michael J. Fox.” The network said it was an “error.”

“How do you react when you turn on the TV and CNN is reporting your death?” Fox asked his followers on social… pic.twitter.com/r7PeuofiN7

— Variety (@Variety) April 9, 2026

More from USA Today:

A CNN spokesperson told USA TODAY the Fox package “was published in error,” adding that “we have removed it from our platforms and send our apologies to Michael J. Fox and his family.”

According to Entertainment Weekly, the CNN video looked back at Fox’s life and career and featured a narrator speaking about him in the past tense.

Major news outlets typically prepare obituaries in advance of a high-profile person’s death, which are often not used for many years, and on occasion, they can be mistakenly published prematurely.

Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, has also been the subject of death hoaxes in the past, including in 2018, when a fake article reporting his death circulated online.

In a rare public appearance, Fox joined the cast of the Apple TV show “Shrinking” at PaleyFest on Tuesday night, and shared a hug with costar Harrison Ford on stage.

Fox appeared on the show as a Parkinson’s patient in Season 3 of the series, in which Ford’s character suffers from the disease.

Last October, Fox released his book Future Boy chronicling the making of Back to the Future while he was simultaneously shooting his hit sitcom Family Ties.