Hollywood Unlocked, a US blog that claims that Queen Elizabeth II has died, continued to say that its story was authentic on Wednesday, shortly after reports suggested that the blog had issued an apology for spreading misinformation.
According to a report by Variety, Hollywood Unlocked posted tweets (now deleted) sharing its “deepest apologies” with the Royal Family, but the account that shared the apologetic tweets was not authentic, Hollywood Unlocked CEO Jason Lee said via a tweet on Wednesday.
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“Woke up to some fake account posting a retraction. We do not know that account and we have not retracted our story,” Lee wrote on Twitter, adding, “There has yet to be an official statement from the Palace. Staying tuned.”
At the time the post was published and Hollywood Unlocked was attacked for allegedly spreading misinformation, Lee had stood by the blog, saying, “We don’t post lies and I always stand by my sources. Waiting for an official statement from the palace.”
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The news story by Hollywood Unlocked, titled ‘HU Exclusive: Queen Elizabeth Dead’, claimed, “Sources close to the Royal Kingdom notified us exclusively that Queen Elizabeth has passed away. She was scheduled to attend the wedding of British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, but was found dead.”
No other details about the Queen’s alleged passing was reported by the blog, and at the time of writing this, the story could still be accessed on its website.
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Further, at the time of writing this, there had been no comment by the Buckingham Palace about the Hollywood Unlocked story or on Queen Elizabeth II’s health. The Palace on Tuesday had announced the cancellation of the Queen’s online appointments due to COVID-19 and confirmed that the 95-year-old was still experiencing light, flu-like symptoms.
Earlier on Sunday, the Buckingham Palace had announced that the Queen had tested positive for COVID-19, and said that she was experiencing mild symptoms.