On August 26, 2025, a viral social media post claimed that Donnie Yen, the renowned Hong Kong martial arts actor, had tragically passed away shortly after assisting flood victims in Beijing. The post, alleging that Yen’s wife, Uong Thi Thi, made a tearful announcement to fans while returning to their car, spread rapidly across platforms like X and Facebook, causing widespread alarm. These claims, however, are entirely false, marking another celebrity death hoax targeting the Ip Man star.
Donnie Yen is alive and actively engaged in his career. Recent reports confirm he attended a promotional event for his upcoming film Misfit on August 20, 2025, in Hong Kong, as noted by the South China Morning Post. His verified Weibo account also posted a video on August 22, 2025, showing him training for a new action sequence, with no mention of any health issues or incidents. Uong Thi Thi, a former model, has not made any public statement about her husband’s death, and their family’s social media remains focused on personal milestones, such as their 20th wedding anniversary celebration in Italy in 2023, as reported by vietnam.vn.
The hoax likely stems from Yen’s high-profile persona and recent reports of devastating floods in Beijing, which killed at least 44 people and displaced over 80,000, particularly in the Miyun district, as reported by The New York Times and BBC on July 28-29, 2025. False narratives suggested Yen was heroically aiding victims in Taishitun, where 31 elderly residents perished in a nursing home, before meeting a tragic fate. These stories, often paired with AI-generated images, are baseless and exploit real tragedies for clickbait. Similar hoaxes targeted Yen in 2020 and 2023, falsely claiming he died in accidents, as debunked by Reuters.
No credible news outlet, including CNN, BBC, or Xinhua, has reported Yen’s death, and there is no evidence of him being in Beijing during the floods. The claim that Uong Thi Thi announced his passing is fabricated, with no trace of such a statement on her social media or in verified reports. Yen, known for films like Rogue One and John Wick: Chapter 4, remains a global icon, recently honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 2025 Shanghai International Film Festival.
Such hoaxes often aim to drive traffic to malicious websites or phishing scams, as noted in a 2024 Lead Stories report on similar celebrity death rumors. Fans are urged to verify information through reputable sources and avoid sharing unconfirmed posts. Yen’s ongoing projects, including a potential Sleeping Dogs adaptation, confirm his vitality. The spread of this misinformation underscores the need for critical media consumption, especially amid real crises like the Beijing floods.
