No evidence Mikaben died because of COVID-19 vaccine

The Haitian singer Mikaben died Oct. 15 after collapsing on stage during a performance in Paris. 

A few days later, a representative for Mikaben, whose real name was Michael Benjamin, said the musician went into cardiac arrest. 

On social media, some users are claiming without evidence that Mikaben died because of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

"Sudden Adult Death Syndrome," read the caption of a screenshot of a New York Post headline about Mikaben’s death shared on Instagram. "#COVID19 #Coronavirus #Collapsitarian #COVID19WasAnInsideJob"

"Are y’all #payingattentionyet," read another with emojis used to depict a COVID-19 vaccine. 

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Threads posts

stated on October 26, 2024 in a Threads post

Four Florida counties had “zero results” Oct. 26, and “something underhanded might be happening.”

The Instagram post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

We found no evidence to support the claims that Mikaben died because of the COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, we didn’t find anything documenting that he received a COVID-19 vaccine. 

These claims are being made without evidence, the latest of a particular brand of rumor that has followed high-profile deaths during the pandemic. 

Vanessa Fanfan, Mikaben’s wife, has posted about his death on Instagram, writing that "this pain is very heavy." A statement from the family also posted on her social media account described his death as a "sudden loss." 

If evidence emerges that Mikaben died because of the COVID-19 vaccine, we’ll revisit this fact-check. But for now, the claims are unfounded. We rate them False.