Celeb Round Up: George R.R. Martin confirms he is not dead

Legendary music producer George Martin died today at the age of 90. Martin was best known for producing records for The Beatles. “If anyone earned the title of the fifth Beatle it was George,” Paul McCartney said in a statement.

His passing is a blow to music fans everywhere, but it had some strange ripple effects among Game of Thrones fans. Several people misinterpreted the news and assumed that George R.R. Martin, author of the Song of Ice and Fire books, had died instead.

Others saw the silver lining.

The confusion got to the point where George R.R. Martin himself felt the need to step in. “While it is strangely moving to realize that so many people around the world care so deeply about my life and death, I have to go with Mark Twain and insist that the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” he said on his Not a Blog. “I am still here, still writing, still editing, still going to movies and reading books, and I expect to hang around for quite a while yet, thank you very much.”

“But thank you all for caring,” he added.

UPDATE: Chilean television just took this story to a whole new level:

In other news, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane) teased Game of Thrones Season 6 ever so slightly to Icelandic magazine Vísir. “These are some exciting episodes coming out now,” he said. “It was a fun project, and fun to perform in it.” Not a lot, but maybe the reporters were nervous about asking him too many questions—there’s just no forgetting him squeezing Oberyn’s head off.

Finally, Sophie Turner recently experienced a moment of crisis when she visited her parents. I’ll let her tell it.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that all people born in the mid-90s or later must be near an internet connection at all times lest they be unable to tweet or post to their Instagram account. Turner bravely made do.

But seriously, funny on Turner’s part. I’d probably panic if away from an internet connection for too long, as well.

h/t CNN, Metro, The Reykjavík Grapevine, Express