Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
The untimely demise of former Australian cricketer Shane Warne at the age of 52 led to a lot of speculation on social media about the cause of his death. Even though he passed away on 4th March, a video is going viral on social media claiming to show Shane Warne’s son speaking about the “truth about his father’s death”. In the video, a man seems to be implying that Shane Warne died as a result of taking the Covid vaccine. He further adds that Warne was in Thailand for a treatment as he had been complaining about heart issues since he took the Covid vaccine.
The video shared by Twitter user @zoominfire1 along with the caption ‘The mysterious death of the #Australian #Cricket #Legend #ShaneWarne. Shane Warne’s son spills the beans. #VaccineDeath #Australia #VaccineDamage.’
Newschecker found similar claims on Facebook with different captions.
After strict lockdowns and vaccine mandates in Australia, the internet has been full of anti-vaccination claims with lots of misinformation floating around. The legendary Australian cricketer, Shane Warne has also not been spared with respect to the rumours surrounding his demise despite the fact that he was very vocal about his support for vaccination drives when alive.
Also read: Are These ₹500 Notes Fake? No, Viral Claim Is Fabricated
Fact Check/ Verification
Newschecker conducted a Google reverse image search on the viral images to ascertain its authenticity and found a longer version of the video on Telegram uploaded by user Blair Cottrell on his Telegram account.
The speaker in the video, a certain Blair Cottrell, seems to be implying that a lot of famous people in Australia seem to be “dropping dead”, which he relates to their vaccination status. He further added that the scientists are not drawing parallels between the recent deaths caused by heart attack and vaccination drives because the scientists are “paid” by the vaccine companies to not conduct any research in the particular field.
Upon performing a keyword search, Newschecker found a news article by the Guardian uploaded on the 16th July, 2019 on their website titled ‘Far-right extremist and convicted racist Blair Cottrell fails in supreme court appeal bid.’
According to the article, Blair Cortell belongs to the United Patriots Front, a nationalist party in Australia. The article also states that Blair Cortell was convicted of “inciting hatred, contempt and ridicule of Muslims after making a video beheading a dummy in protest of a mosque.”
Upon further investigation, Newschecker found a video of Shane Warne’s son, Jackson Warne giving a speech at the Melbourne Cricket Ground stadium, where an event was organised to unveil the Shane Warne stand at the stadium.
In a statement released by Shane Warne’s family, son Jackson Warne said:
“To my brother, my best friend, to my Dad, I love you so much. I don’t think anything is ever going to fill the void you have left in my heart. Sitting at the poker table, walking around the golf course, watching the Saints and eating pizza is never going to be the same. But I know all you ever wanted for me is to be happy, no matter what. You just wanted me to be happy, that’s it. So that’s what I’m going to do, try and be happy. I am going to miss you so much Dad and you were truly the best father and mate anyone could’ve asked for. I love you so much Dad, see you soon.”
Newschecker found that Shane Warne’s son, Jackson Warne is not the man seen in the viral video.
In addition, it has been widely reported by credible media outlets across the world that Shane Warne had died of natural causes. You can access the reports here, here and here.
According to a news report by News Australia, the autopsy report of Shane Warne conducted by the Thailand police revealed “that Australian sporting icon Shane Warne died of natural causes, Thai police have confirmed.”
The report further adds “Warne’s family and Australia’s ambassador to Thailand Allan McKinnon have been informed of the result and accepted the finding, deputy national police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said in a statement. Investigators will summarise the autopsy result for prosecutors within the timeframe of the law.”
Conclusion
According to the investigation conducted by Newschecker, the viral video alleging to show Shane Warne’s son talking about the reason for his father’s death is false. The video shows a controversial far-right Australian leader called Blair Cottrell and not Shane Warne’s son Jackson Warne.
Result: False Context/False
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Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
