The “Back to the Future” star has struggled with Parkinson’s disease for 35 years.

Michael J. Fox reacts to tribute video that sparked fear he had died: ‘WTF?’

The "Back to the Future" star has struggled with Parkinson's disease for 35 years.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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on April 8, 2026 11:34 p.m. ET

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Michael J. Fox in 2025. Credit:

Jason Kempin/Getty

No need to panic, Michael J. Fox fans.

The 64-year-old actor, who's best known for starring in the *Back to the Future* movies and on the TV series *Family Ties *and *Spin City*, has not died, despite the publication of a video titled "Remembering the life of actor Michael J. Fox" on CNN and the sites where its content is distributed.

A spokesperson for the network told **, "The package was published in error; we have removed it from our platforms and send our apologies to Michael J. Fox and his family."

Within hours, Fox responded: "How do you react when you turn on the TV and CNN is reporting your death? Do you…A) Switch to MSNBC, or whatever they are calling themselves these days, (B) Pour scalding hot water on your lap, if it hurts you're fine, (C) Call your wife, hopefully she's concerned but reassuring, (D) Relax, they do this once every year, (E) Ask yourself wtf? I thought the world was ending, but apparently it's just me and I'm ok. Love, Mike”

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The video in question showed viewers clips of Fox's work over the years, as well as interview excerpts.

"He came into our living rooms on the small screen each week as Alex P. Keaton [on *Family Ties*] and eventually onto the big screen as Marty McFly in [*Back to the Future*]," the narrator said. "But Michael J. Fox had a compelling third act as Parkinson's sufferer and stem cell research advocate."

It noted that Fox left *Spin City* in 2000 after his symptoms began to affect his work. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991 and went public with it in 1998.

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"His most lasting role may have been as a tireless voice against Parkinson's, a performance the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2022," the video continued. "In the end, Fox came to understand that his battle against the disease brought out the best in him."

Fans who had watched the video were naturally unhappy with what they had seen.

"This hit hard," one commenter wrote. "My husband is a couple of years younger than MJF and got early onset PD at 33. this was a gasp as we are also Gen-Xers and support MJF and his foundation."

Michael J. Fox on 'Family Ties'.

Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Another added, "This verbiage very much reads like a memorial post. I'm glad to hear he's still fighting the good fight."

Someone else wrote that they "almost had a heart attack" seeing the video. "He is alive right because the title of this video almost had me on my knees. He was one of my crushes as a kid and the reason I loved *Back to the Future *and everything else he did back then. Love him!!"

Fox does act much less than he once did, but he had a recurring role on the Apple TV comedy *Shrinking* this season, in which he played Gerry, who was also struggling with Parkinson's. He was a patient of Harrison Ford's therapist character Paul, who's dealing with the same disease.

*: This article has been to include Fox's response to the video. *

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