# Celebrity death that would make the biggest headline today **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776 "2012-09-15T08:35:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jepflast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@jepflast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jepflast)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/1 "2012-09-15T08:35:45Z")
When Michael Jackson died unexpectedly at age 50, I racked my brain and realized there could not have been a death at that time that would have been bigger news, with the exception of Barack Obama. In my humble opinion. Of course, I can only speak from an American perspective, but I still say Barack Obama would be #1 by a wide margin. So the question is: who’s #2 today? Whose death would cause the biggest media frenzy in the Western world right now? Paul McCartney? Michael Jordan?.. English Royalty? Come to think of it, there probably is a huge difference depending on where you live. So what’s the answer in your country? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/2 "2012-09-15T08:38:51Z")
Tim Tebow. The internet will melt down if hookers and blow are involved. CNN Tower will explode if it’s male hookers. ---
**Author:** ![jepflast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@jepflast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jepflast)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/3 "2012-09-15T08:45:10Z")
That’s good point about the circumstances. I’m supposing we largely ignore those, or it’s something along the lines of a Heath Ledger/Michael Jackson death. (And besides, don’t you think there would be bigger headlines if Tebow died while saving children from a burning building?) ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/4 "2012-09-15T08:46:07Z")
Kate Middleton and/or Prince William? ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/5 "2012-09-15T08:55:16Z")
Probably a five way tie between Obama, The Pope, Tiger Woods, QEII and Madonna. If they all died in the same shoot-out, news editors would wet themselves in excitement. > [@Oakminster](#): > > Tim Tebow. The internet will melt down if hookers and blow are involved. CNN Tower will explode if it’s male hookers. The rest of the world has no idea who Tim Tebow is, and doesn’t care. Hookers and blow we have heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/6 "2012-09-15T09:22:04Z")
I forgot Paul McCartney. His weapon of choice is an antique shotgun with a walnut stock. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/7 "2012-09-15T09:25:05Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > The rest of the world has no idea who Tim Tebow is, and doesn’t care. Hookers and blow we have heard of. I was responding to the last line in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/8 "2012-09-15T09:26:50Z")
Sorry, I missed that line. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/9 "2012-09-15T09:37:04Z")
The editors and photographers of Closer magazine are hardly celebrities. But if Kate Middleton were to wander down to their offices with a shotgun and start blasting away, that would make pretty big headlines, I’d have thought. (I’m excluding the possibility that HM the Queen would be their visitor, because come ON, let’s not get totally ridiculous) ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/10 "2012-09-15T09:39:57Z")
I dunno… I think if you’d asked this question the day before he died, very few people would have come up with “Michael Jackson” as an answer. He hadn’t been a real music star for a decade or more and even his zany personal life had mostly faded from the front of the tabloids. We’d sort of forgotten about him, but something about the timing and the manner of his death just hit a chord. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/11 "2012-09-15T10:00:11Z")
Another one I missed - Usain Bolt. ---
**Author:** ![jepflast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@jepflast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jepflast)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/12 "2012-09-15T10:02:40Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > I dunno… I think if you’d asked this question the day before he died, very few people would have come up with “Michael Jackson” as an answer. He hadn’t been a real music star for a decade or more and even his zany personal life had mostly faded from the front of the tabloids. We’d sort of forgotten about him, but something about the timing and the manner of his death just hit a chord. Disagree. MJ was the perfect storm, and a moment’s though would have revealed it. Living Legend. Scandals. Known Throughout the World. Too Young to Die. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/13 "2012-09-15T10:51:26Z")
> [@jepflast](#): > > Disagree. MJ was the perfect storm, and a moment’s though would have revealed it. Living Legend. Scandals. Known Throughout the World. Too Young to Die. I dunno - my reaction to his death was basically “meh”, and I grew up in the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/14 "2012-09-15T11:21:28Z")
One of those Kardashian folks. Apparently they are beloved by many. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Shroud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@The\_Shroud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Shroud)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/15 "2012-09-15T11:58:51Z")
> [@jepflast](#): > > Disagree. MJ was the perfect storm, and a moment’s though would have revealed it. Living Legend. Scandals. Known Throughout the World. Too Young to Die. You’re both right, actually. During the fervor following his death, which included hucksters on the street selling makeshift MJ memorial swag, I remember thinking,\* just a couple days ago, this guy was best known as the punchline to pedophile and body dysmorphia jokes.\* But it did strike a chord, even with my cynical self, I think because his tragic downfall was crystallized. But yeah, it’s tough to think of who might elicit that Princess Di kind of reaction. Bill Clinton is pretty beloved, but there wouldn’t be that sense of wasted potential if he passed. Maybe a humanitarian movie star like George Clooney? ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/16 "2012-09-15T12:02:29Z")
Bill or Hilary Clinton Prince Charles, because of the succession. Kevin Bacon ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/17 "2012-09-15T12:10:15Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#): > > Kate Middleton and/or Prince William? If they die together in a car crash, it will be a front page story for weeks. Remember what happened when his mother died. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/18 "2012-09-15T16:44:15Z")
Prince William President Obama After that, it’s difficult to say. Those two would be massive news. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/19 "2012-09-15T16:55:23Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Kevin Bacon The obvious winner. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/20 "2012-09-15T17:43:15Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > One of those Kardashian folks. Apparently they are beloved by many. Not if you’re Bajoran. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776.md?page=2)