NOT REAL NEWS: Will Ferrell didn’t die in highway crash

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. (AP) — Will Ferrell was banged up in a car crash but is very much alive, despite a false report online that the comic actor died.

On Sunday, the site breaking-cnn posted a false article claiming Ferrell died in a hospital “in the wee hours of Saturday morning.”

Ferrell was treated Thursday night after a limousine SUV he was riding in was hit by a car and rolled over on Interstate 5 in Southern California. A video taken at the scene showed Ferrell talking on a cellphone as he sat on a stretcher and firefighters loaded him into an ambulance.

Capt. Larry Kurtz with the Orange County Fire Authority confirmed in a Monday phone call with The Associated Press that Ferrell and two other men in the SUV had minor injuries. A woman was injured more seriously, but also survived. The driver of a 2007 Toyota that the California Highway Patrol said struck the SUV wasn’t hurt.

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This is part of The Associated Press’ ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.

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Find all AP Fact Checks here: https://www.apnews.com/tag/APFactCheck

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