TRUE – SpongeBob SquarePants Creator Stephen Hillenburg Has Died
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What the fact-checkers found
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Unfortunately, it is true that Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of much-loved animated series SpongeBob SquarePants has died.
Messages about Mr Hillenburg’s passing began circulating via social media after reports of his death were aired on mainstream news channels in late November 2018.
Because celebrity death hoaxes are so common on social media, some people suspected that the news might be just another hoax. But, sadly, the messages are true.
A November 28th ABC news report notes :
The creator of SpongeBob SquarePants and the absurd undersea world he inhabited, Stephen Hillenburg, has died at the age of 57, Nickelodeon has announced.
Hillenburg died on Monday of Lou Gehrig’s disease, a motor neurone disease also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS), the cable network said in a statement.
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