Rumour mills were active earlier today, claiming Maggie Wheeler, who played the iconic Janice on "FRIENDS", has passed away. Although fans were devastated, it has now been confirmed that she is not dead and the news of her death was merely a hoax.

Some websites had suggested that Margaret Emily "Maggie" Wheeler was found dead in her bedroom on Wednesday, 12 August, afternoon and that the cause of her death was suspected to be heart attack.

Many "FRIENDS" fans, who believed the news, wrote condolence messages for her.

Aniruddh Godara: "Oh my god !! Janice will miss you.. Peace , May her soul rest !!"

Wise Guy (@fahadameen1): "There is a rumor that Maggie Wheeler a.k.a JANICE Litman Goralnik of F.R.I.E.N.D.S passed away yesterday Ah the nasal laugh. #RIP"

FaizanGaba (@FaizanGaba): "Maggie wheeler is dead :( Please make a friends reunion before anyone else dies."

Maryan Haider (@Mawwwryam): "Maggie Wheeler, you were the most annoying person on Friends but also the most entertaining. #Friends #RIPMaggieWheeler".

Later, it was confirmed by her attorney that she is alive and well, and had in fact, just celebrated her 54th birthday with her friends and family, on 7 August.

The Facebook fan page "I miss friends The best Tv series ever", where the rumour originated from, later posted that Wheeler's advocate Bill Zayne mailed them saying: "Maggie is alive, She's completely harmless and doing fine with her family who were shocked to hear in the social media about Maggie's Death rumor".

The post looks like a haphazard attempt to rectify a blunder. As Karan Bir points out, "I Guess You should stop embarrassing yourself 'whoever the admin is' by posting unrealistic posts and thinking that people would believe that this page has some direct connection to such celebrities or their manager or advocates."

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