Don't Panic, It Wasn't Lil' Kim

By Mark Memmott • Dec 19, 2011

In case anyone's confused. Kim Jong Il is at left. And Lil' Kim is still with us.

Korean Central News Agency / Ian Gavan / AFP/Getty Images

Originally published on December 19, 2011 1:28 pm

Just the headline of this Buzz Feed post made us laugh.

"25 People Who Thought Lil Kim Died."

It's funny either way:

-- If some folks were confused by the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

-- Or if they were just making mischief.

The latter appears more likely — or at least it's the reason the whole thread got started. According to The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog:

"Shortly after Kim's death, cultural critic N'Gai Croal was one of the first to jump-start the meme, 'RIP, Lil' Kim,' he tweeted. Thousands more followed."

When he did that, N'Gai Croal also linked to a Bloomberg News story about the Korean leader's death.

(H/T to NPR's Stephanie Federico.)