Judy Sheindlin celebrates 84th birthday amid social media death hoax

Judy Sheindlin, the former Manhattan arbitrator and star of the long-running television series ‘Judge Judy’, turned 84 on Wednesday, October 21. Her birthday coincided with a viral death hoax on Facebook.

A parody account named ‘Daily Viral News’ posted a black-and-white photo with the text ‘Today We Lost 83-Year-Old Judge Judy,’ which was intended as a clickbait birthday tribute. Despite the misleading imagery, the caption clarified that Sheindlin had not passed away, instead joking that she had ‘lost’ her previous age because she was now 84.

Sheindlin’s official Instagram account marked the occasion by sharing one of her iconic quotes. Sheindlin rose to fame through her syndicated court program, which ran for 25 seasons, and later hosted ‘Judy Justice’ on Amazon Prime.