Daniel Radcliffe said he’s personally “flattered they chose” him for a fake coronavirus rumor that surfaced earlier in the week and admitted it’s because he “looks ill all the time.”
“I walked into the hair and makeup room on a play yesterday, and the makeup artist was like, ‘My niece has just texted me and told me you’ve got corona,'” the 30-year old actor shared during an interview for an Australian radio show “Smallzy’s Surgery.” The post was noted by Entertainment Tonight in a piece published Wednesday. (RELATED: REPORT: Coachella Potentially Rescheduled To October Due To Coronavirus Fears)
There’s a rumour going around that Daniel Radcliffe has coronavirus…
I got him on the phone to confirm or deny ????#SmallzysSurgery pic.twitter.com/9BRJ0eRaF2
— Smallzy (@Smallzy) March 12, 2020
“I think it was on a fake BBC account, but then enough people saw it,” he added. “That is the internet. But you know, flattered they chose me.”(RELATED: Pearl Jam Postpones North American Tour Over Growing Coronavirus Concerns)
The “Harry Potter” star continued, “I think it’s just because I look ill all the time, so you can believably say it about me. ‘Cause I’m very pale.” (RELATED: Here Are The Members Of Congress Self-Quarantining After Meeting Person With Coronavirus At CPAC)
It all comes after a fake BBC Twitter account tweeted that, “Breaking: Danielle Radcliffe tests positive for coronavirus. The actor is said to be the first famous person to be publicly confirmed.”
Fake BBC account with 125 followers fake-infected Daniel Radcliffe with covid-19.
Link resolves to a genuine BBC news alert page that hasn’t been updated since 2017. pic.twitter.com/vJk3gBEtQj
— Jane Lytvynenko (@JaneLytv) March 10, 2020
The post sent people into a frenzy thinking the actor had tested positive for the virus before it was noticed that the post wasn’t actually from the BBC Twitter news site, but a fake account with less than 125 followers.