On April 9, 2021, Earl Simmons aka DMX died after having a heart attack that placed him into a state of unconciousness for seven days. He suffered the heart attack on April 2, 2021. A heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart is blocked, typically because of a blood clot or plaque that built up in the arteries over time. DMX was 50 years old.
On April 9, 2021, Snopes released an article, fact checking claims made by a family member of DMX. According to their website, Snopes is the oldest and largest fact-checking site online, widely regarded by journalists, folklorists, and readers as an invaluable research companion. Snopes fact check rating was based on an article published by MTO News Network. MTO News Network published the article, written by Lyndon Abioye, on April 8, 2021. The title of the article is, DMX Received Covid Vaccine Days Before Heart Attack - Family Says NO DRUGS! (EXCLUSIVE). mtonews.com
The family member, who did not reveal his name, claims "DMX received the COVID vaccine about a week before he suffered from the heart attack. I'm not saying the vaccine did it, but he never had a heart attack before."
Snopes fact check began with an extremely subjective statement. “We wouldn't consider an unnamed source from a gossip site as a reliable source of information.” Snopes affirms.
Yet, MTO News Network does not describe their organization as a gossip site but as an African American News Network. Snopes goes on to acknowledge, once, that a family member made the claim, however, Snopes continued to refer to this family member as an unnamed source. Sticking to the characterization of the source as “Family member” is a good idea. Unless, of course, Snopes has facts stating otherwise. If Snopes had information to discredit this person as a legitimate family member of DMX, they never revealed it. Snopes rated this claim as unproven. There is a bit of truth in the rating. However, Snopes statment is so heavily laced with accusation, slander, opinion, and subjectivity, it’s hard to trust it.
Snopes Rating - Unproven
This rumor comes from an unnamed source quoted in a gossip magazine that has published inaccurate information on more than one occasion. As of this writing, there's no evidence that COVID-19 or a COVID-19 vaccine played any part in DMX's death. www.snopes.com
Snopes goes on to write that DMX may have gotten the shot because In New York, vaccinations opened to people aged 50 and older on March 22, 2021. But, it appears as if Snopes took this bit of information from the family member.
The family member states, "DMX got the vaccine when they opened it up to people over 50. He got it so that he could go travel and perform, stuff like that."
The family member’s context was, definitively, more believable. Snopes using that same bit of information as a possibility of why DMX could have gotten the shot, yet classifying the statement as unproven and the source, not credible, is confusing.
Cardiac Arrests has been noted as an adverse reaction to the covid vaccine, according to The CDC Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System (VAERS) vaers.hhs.gov. The majority of heart attacks do not lead to full cardiac arrest; however, when cardiac arrest does occur, heart attacks are a common cause.
Instead of sticking to facts, Snopes insults the family member as not being credible, I guess because the family member doesn’t give his name. Snopes slanders MTO News Network and uses hearsay based on another magazine slandering MTO News. Ultimately, Snopes disregards the intellectual thought and freedom of the family member in that the family member did not say the vaccine did it. He, simply, made a reasonable claim based on the information he had.
Snopes is injecting too much of their opinion onto the reader and/or researcher. Speculation and opinion are not news or facts and must not be used, in any way, as tools in validating information. Having open and transparent discussions about these issues will ultimately result in the creation of a superior product (vaccine). It’s time we demand open and honest discussions about the vaccines.
I don’t know how DMX died and can't confirm the connection between the vaccine and DMX'x death. But, It is a reasonable possibility that the vaccine might have contributed to his heart attack. We all share an interest in assuring safety and proper monitoring of people who get the vaccine and our government officials, press, and designated information fact checkers have a duty to do so as well.
Rest in peace DMX.