Michael J. Fox is alive and doing well, and his team had to come out and say so directly after CNN accidentally made the entire internet think otherwise.
Fox’s rep confirms he is “doing great” after CNN published a “Remembering” article that was quickly deleted
On Wednesday, April 8, CNN published an article and accompanying video titled “Remembering the Life of Actor Michael J. Fox,” and within minutes, the internet had done what the internet does.
The wording sent shockwaves across social media, with fans immediately fearing the worst for the 64-year-old Back to the Future star, who has been living with Parkinson’s disease for over three decades.
It did not take long for the record to be set straight. Fox’s representatives issued a statement to TMZ confirming that nothing was wrong.
“Michael is doing great,” they said. “He was at PaleyFest yesterday. He was on stage and was giving interviews.“
CNN subsequently pulled the article from all its platforms and issued an apology, with a spokesperson stating it had been “published in error.”
The piece appears to have been a prewritten retrospective or advance obituary that went live accidentally, which is a practice that exists across many newsrooms but is rather disastrous when the subject is very much still around.
The timing made the whole thing feel even more jarring. Fox had literally been at PaleyFest LA the day before, making a surprise appearance at the wrap party for Season 3 of Apple TV+’s Shrinking, in which he guest stars.
Harrison Ford, his co-star on the show, had previously praised Fox’s “courage, his fortitude, and his grace” as the reason he was essential to the season.
Co-creator Bill Lawrence had also assured fans ahead of the premiere that Fox would not be reduced to a quick cameo.
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 at the age of 29, but kept it private for seven years before going public in 1998.
He stepped back from acting in 2020 but has since returned in limited capacities, including voice work in Zootopia 2 and his Shrinking role, which he described as something he took on simply because he found the show genuinely beautiful, with no broader agenda attached.
His most recent public Instagram post before the confusion broke was a cheerful congratulation to runners who had competed on behalf of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research at the 2026 United Airlines NYC Half Marathon.
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