NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess) — Tragedy seems to be often heaped upon tragedy in the era of coronavirus and the death of Joe Diffie last month due to COVID-19 complications appears to be no exception.
Diffie, who scored chart-topping country hits in the 1990s with “Pickup Man” and “Home” died in Nashville on March 29th after he was diagnosed with the virus.
Since then, Diffie has become the focus of an internet conspiracy theory suggesting that his death was falsely attributed to COVID-19 in bid to exaggerate the threat of the virus.
According to the Associated Press, users on Facebook and Twitter have inaccurately claimed that media reports about Diffie’s death concealed that he had lung cancer which had precipitated the singer’s death.
In actuality, it was his father, Joe Diffie Sr., who died of lung cancer in 2018.
In the wake of his passing, his widow Tara Terpening Diffie took to social media to try to refute the conspiracists, stating that she hoped to set the record straight about her husband’s death.
“There have been some untrue statements about my late husband that are false and hurtful,” Tara Terpening Diffie wrote in an Instagram post. “Joe did not have lung cancer and was a healthy, loving father, husband and friend. He also kept a very busy touring schedule and loved his fans who’ve supported him all these years.”
