David Bowie Death Hoax Conspiracy

A wave of conspiracy theories has flooded the internet, suggesting a number of odd things about David Bowie and the recent news of his death.

The main theory being that David Bowie is not actually dead at all. Or perhaps more accurately, David Jones (Bowie’s legal name) is not dead in the literal sense, but only the idea of Bowie as a symbol or character is gone. David Bowie is a stage name, and as none of the obituary’s state that David Jones has died, there is (arguably) a certain level of ambiguity.

The “Lazarus” Theory

This theory grew roots as a result of two of Bowie’s music videos released shortly before his death– Blackstar and Lazarus.

Image Credit: Marc Wathleu (Flickr)

We’ll skim over the many suggestions of Illuminati and satanic symbolism used in the videos (it’s too long, but you can read more here and here).

In both videos, Bowie plays the same character – an aging weak man with bandaged eyes.

In the New Testament, Lazarus died and was then resurrected four days later by Christ.

This is most likely an artistic representation of the cancer that was (supposedly) killing him. But fans are suggesting Lazarus is Bowie’s way of hinting that he will be back.

However, the Lazarus theory really grew wings when a man called Jack Steven, a music industry executive, appeared on Sky News to discuss David Bowie’s departure.

Viewers were quick to note that Steven bares a remarkable resemblance to Bowie, and suggest that this is in fact (ha!) the singer in disguise.

The theory is arguably compounded when Steven opens the interview by saying “a part of me had died,” referring to how he felt when he heard the news of Bowies death.

Is this Bowie playing a joke on us all? Or is Jack Steven a real man, a real fan, and a genuine “music industry executive” as described?

Read more about this theory here, here and here, and watch the video below.

Editors notes:

Opinions in the ThaiLawForum office are divided, but what has befuddled all of us is Jack Steven’s Linkedin page, which states that Steven’s spent 59 years and 6 months working for Kuba Entertainment.

Almost 60 years is a long career indeed.

Given that Stevens looks to be in his mid to late sixties, it seems unlikely that he started work for Kuba’s before his tenth birthday.

David Bowie. Image Credit: tierry ermann (Flickr)

This could of course be a mere typing error, and this does not appear to have been picked up by mainstream media, so we have no idea whether this is a digression worth taking further. Doubtful.

However, we will say that given that his profile has recently been updated to include a link to the aforementioned Sky News interview, and the likelihood that his appearance would inevitably result in multiple Google searches of him, this seems a pretty large oversight for whoever is managing the page. Just saying.

Also, this would mean that Kuba Entertainment is a pretty long standing company. Putting our very best detective skills to the test, we searched both the UK and US government company’s lists to check when the firm was registered – but no sign of it. Does it even exist?

Of course, most of what we’ve described above can be explained away with a casual wave of the hand and one word – coincidence.

But, could all these coincidences have been designed by a great artist – or Bowie himself?

So – is this Bowie in disguise? Or is this a crackpot theory from people who have let their imaginations run away with them?

Unfortunately we don’t have the answer. But we are tempted to draw a sensible conclusion – that David Bowie (and David Jones) has died as reported. Most things in the world are, after all, not mysterious, however much we might like to believe in secret worlds we’ve yet to discover.

Bowie’s final contribution to the world of music is merely representative of a dying man battling with dark emotions, and hoping to keep us guessing a little longer.

He’s certainly achieved that.

Be sure to let us know what you think!

Check out the Jack Steven’s Sky appearance here: