Hugh Hefner has dismissed internet rumours that he is dead, jokingly telling his Twitter followers "I'm very much alive". A social networking rumour began circulating on Monday (11th July 2011), alerting fans that the Playboy mogul had tragically passed away.
The 85-year-old immediately took to his Twitter page to clear up the speculation, firstly telling followers, "The rumors of my death are, as Mark Twain observed in a similar situation, greatly exaggerated. I'm very much alive & kicking". Hugh, whose former fiance Crystal Harris cancelled their planned wedding last month, said he was "lying in bed next to Shera" (Playboy bunny) and told fans not to worry about rumours of his death. He also told followers he had spent some time watching a forthcoming documentary about his planned marriage to Harris, saying, "The guys & I watched an early edit of 'Hef's Runaway Bride' tonight. The fans are going to love it". Harris was famously unveiled as 'Mrs Hefner' on the cover of Playboy, just days before she made the decision to cancel the nuptials.
Hugh Hefner has been married on two previous occasions - he first wed Mildred Williams in 1949 but the couple divorced ten years later. He then married Kimberley Conrad in 1989 but divorced in 2009.