Kirk Douglas obituary accidentally published by People with headline: 'DO NOT PUB Kirk Douglas Dies'
The actor celebrates his 98th birthday next week
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It’s the stuff of journalistic nightmares – publishing an already-written obituary before the person in question has died.
It’s not uncommon for news services to pre-write obituaries, and all too easy to accidentally hit the publish button. People.com were on the receiving end of such an unfortunate gaffe this weekend, after the US website unintentionally published an article about the death of Kirk Douglas. Its headline read: "DO NOT PUB Kirk Douglas Dies".
The actor celebrates his 98th birthday later this month on 9 December.
People’s story detailed his many accomplishments, documenting his "humble beginnings" and subsequent 75 films.
"Kirk Douglas, one of the few genuine box-office names to emerge just as TV was overtaking American culture in the years right after World War II, died TK TK TK," read the piece. 'TK' is journalistic shorthand for 'to come'.
"He was 97 (DOB 12/9/1916) and had been in good health despite having suffered a debilitating 1996 stroke that rendered his speech difficult."
The date stamp read 29 September, but it is unclear as to whether the piece has been online for two months or whether it was simply created on that date.
The obituary has since been removed, but was picked by several Twitter users.
During his career, the actor has been nominated for three Oscars for Lust for Life, The Bad and the Beautiful and Champion, although has never won. He was presented with a honorary Academy Award by Steven Spielberg in 1996.