{"id":"1792781881267-culture-segment","slug":"tom-skerritt-alive-despite-death-hoax","title":"Tom Skerritt alive despite death hoax","summary":"Ella Langley has returned to No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart with \"Choosin' Texas,\" her crossover smash. The song has already logged 20+ weeks at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs, multiple weeks atop the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, and its parent album \"Dandelion\" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 169,000 equivalent album units — the biggest week for a country album by a woman in two years and the biggest week of 2026 for any woman.\n\nLangley's breakthrough has been driven by \"Choosin' Texas,\" which she co-wrote and co-produced, and the follow-up single \"Be Her,\" both of which have become simultaneous top 10 hits. The momentum has made her the first woman primarily recording country music to chart her first two top five Hot 100 songs simultaneously, and only the second woman ever to lead both the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 with country titles.\n\nThe Game's 2006 sophomore album \"Doctor's Advocate\" is getting two 20th anniversary vinyl editions — a marbled 2LP with alternate cover art and a 2LP picture disc, both including \"I'm Chillin'\" on vinyl for the first time.\n\nElla Langley has returned to No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart with \"Choosin' Texas,\" extending her run of chart history; the song has already topped the Hot Country Songs chart for over 20 weeks and the all-genre Hot 100.\n\nIATSE, the entertainment industry labor union, has named video engineer Jillian Arnold as its first Labor and Technology Officer.\n\nTom Skerritt is still alive as of the latest available reporting; there is no credible news of his death. This appears to be a false death rumor.","publishedAt":"2026-10-23T18:58:01.267Z","channel":{"id":"culture","name":"Oncast Music","language":"en"},"show":"Pop Lunch","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: The Game's 2006 sophomore album \"Doctor's Advocate\" is getting two 20th anniversary vinyl editions — a marbled 2LP with alternate cover art and a 2LP picture disc, both including \"I'm Chillin'\" on vinyl for the first time.\nSource: udiscovermusic.com (https://x.com/Complex/status/2113703646621839366)\n\nTRUE: Ella Langley has returned to No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart with \"Choosin' Texas,\" extending her run of chart history; the song has already topped the Hot Country Songs chart for over 20 weeks and the all-genre Hot 100.\nSource: billboard.com POST 2113702178833469763: NOCLAIM (Slayyyter's announced tour cancellation due to laryngitis and vocal cord tears is a personal/health announcemen (https://x.com/billboard/status/2113705462080192926)\n\nTRUE: IATSE, the entertainment industry labor union, has named video engineer Jillian Arnold as its first Labor and Technology Officer.\nSource: variety.com POST 2113696980195041350: NOCLAIM (An event recap — AARP's presence at Billboard Latin Music Week 2026 — is a promotional/coverage announcement, not (https://x.com/Variety/status/2113699651454996864)\n\nFALSE: Tom Skerritt is still alive as of the latest available reporting; there is no credible news of his death. This appears to be a false death rumor.\nSource: No credible outlet has reported his death. POST bsky:at://did:plc:2m5qpejtwacqwjiadonfkmzd/app.bsky.feed.post/3myiw5kbip222: NOCLAIM (Pop culture reference/joke (https://bsky.app/profile/azintel.bsky.social/post/3myige4eudk2s)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"The Game's 2006 sophomore album \"Doctor's Advocate\" is getting two 20th anniversary vinyl editions — a marbled 2LP with alternate cover art and a 2LP picture disc, both including \"I'm Chillin'\" on vinyl for the first time.","sourceName":"udiscovermusic.com","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/Complex/status/2113703646621839366","claim":"The Game's 'Doctor's Advocate' Gets Two New Vinyl Editions for Its 20th Anniversary Details: https://t.co/urKCTK3jmj https://t.co/SOWezjeAMX","author":"@Complex"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Ella Langley has returned to No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart with \"Choosin' Texas,\" extending her run of chart history; the song has already topped the Hot Country Songs chart for over 20 weeks and the all-genre Hot 100.","sourceName":"billboard.com POST 2113702178833469763: NOCLAIM (Slayyyter's announced tour cancellation due to laryngitis and vocal cord tears is a personal/health announcemen","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/billboard/status/2113705462080192926","claim":"No. 1 ‘Again’! Ella Langley Makes More History on Country Airplay Chart https://t.co/YIHDlVf2tZ","author":"@billboard"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"IATSE, the entertainment industry labor union, has named video engineer Jillian Arnold as its first Labor and Technology Officer.","sourceName":"variety.com POST 2113696980195041350: NOCLAIM (An event recap — AARP's presence at Billboard Latin Music Week 2026 — is a promotional/coverage announcement, not","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/Variety/status/2113699651454996864","claim":"IATSE Names Video Engineer Jillian Arnold First Labor and Technology Officer https://t.co/uFGeZGL4aS","author":"@Variety"},{"verdict":"FALSE","summary":"Tom Skerritt is still alive as of the latest available reporting; there is no credible news of his death. This appears to be a false death rumor.","sourceName":"No credible outlet has reported his death. POST bsky:at://did:plc:2m5qpejtwacqwjiadonfkmzd/app.bsky.feed.post/3myiw5kbip222: NOCLAIM (Pop culture reference/joke","sourceUrl":"https://bsky.app/profile/azintel.bsky.social/post/3myige4eudk2s","claim":"Tom Skerritt, the Emmy-winning actor who starred in \"Alien,\" \"Top Gun,\" and the 1990s TV show \"Picket Fences,\" has died. He was 93.","author":"AZ Intel (@azintel.bsky.social)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/Complex/status/2113703646621839366","name":"udiscovermusic.com","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@Complex"},{"url":"https://x.com/billboard/status/2113705462080192926","name":"billboard.com POST 2113702178833469763: NOCLAIM (Slayyyter's announced tour cancellation due to laryngitis and vocal cord tears is a personal/health announcemen","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@billboard"},{"url":"https://x.com/Variety/status/2113699651454996864","name":"variety.com POST 2113696980195041350: NOCLAIM (An event recap — AARP's presence at Billboard Latin Music Week 2026 — is a promotional/coverage announcement, not","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@Variety"},{"url":"https://bsky.app/profile/azintel.bsky.social/post/3myige4eudk2s","name":"No credible outlet has reported his death. POST bsky:at://did:plc:2m5qpejtwacqwjiadonfkmzd/app.bsky.feed.post/3myiw5kbip222: NOCLAIM (Pop culture reference/joke","kind":"bluesky","verdict":"FALSE","author":"AZ Intel (@azintel.bsky.social)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792781881267-culture-segment-tom-skerritt-alive-despite-death-hoax","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/culture","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792781881267-culture-segment-tom-skerritt-alive-despite-death-hoax","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1792781881267-culture-segment-tom-skerritt-alive-despite-death-hoax and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Claudette","text":"Tom Skerritt is not dead."},{"host":"Laura","text":"Wait, somebody said he died?"},{"host":"Claudette","text":"A Bluesky account called AZ Intel posted that the Alien and Top Gun actor had died at ninety-three. No credible outlet has reported it."},{"host":"Laura","text":"Oh, that's one of those death hoaxes again. I hate those."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"The man is still alive as of the latest reporting. The account jumped the gun, or made it up."},{"host":"Laura","text":"And of course it spread everywhere before anybody checked."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"That's the thing with these — the obituary's already written in people's heads, so one post sends it everywhere."},{"host":"Laura","text":"The disrespect to a legend while he's still here."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Skerritt is alive. Moving on to someone who's very much alive and making chart history."},{"host":"Laura","text":"Ella Langley! \"Choosin' Texas\" is back at number one on country airplay."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Again. That song has been on top of Hot Country Songs for over twenty weeks."},{"host":"Laura","text":"And the album, \"Dandelion,\" debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 — the biggest week for a country album by a woman in two years."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"One hundred sixty-nine thousand equivalent units. The streaming was massive — over one hundred thirty million on-demand streams in the first week."},{"host":"Laura","text":"And get this — she's the first woman primarily recording country music to chart her first two top five Hot 100 songs at the same time."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"So \"Choosin' Texas\" and \"Be Her\" are both sitting in the top ten. That's dominance."},{"host":"Laura","text":"Here's what I think is interesting — she co-wrote and co-produced the album. This isn't a label handing her songs. This is her vision."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"That's why it's connecting. It doesn't sound like anything else on country radio right now."},{"host":"Laura","text":"It sounds like Texas, honestly. Gritty, specific, lived-in."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"I'll push back on one thing, though. Country airplay number one is impressive, but the streaming numbers are doing the heavy lifting."},{"host":"Laura","text":"So? That's how people listen to music now. You can't separate them anymore."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"I'm just saying, the radio chart is one metric. The fact that she's topping all of them at once? That's the real story."},{"host":"Laura","text":"Fine, agreed. She's everywhere. Happy?"},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Ecstatic. Let's move on to something you can actually hold."},{"host":"Laura","text":"And now to someone who's about to be on vinyl for the first time — The Game's \"Doctor's Advocate\" is getting two new editions for its twentieth anniversary."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"What's the hook?"},{"host":"Laura","text":"There's a marbled double LP with alternate cover art, and a picture disc. Both include \"I'm Chillin'\" on vinyl for the first time."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Oh, collectors are going to lose their minds. That picture disc is going to go fast."},{"host":"Laura","text":"For people who don't know, that album was his second — and it was him basically saying he didn't need Dr. Dre's production to be great."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Which was a wild statement at the time, but the album holds up. \"One Blood,\" \"Wouldn't Get Far\" — solid."},{"host":"Laura","text":"Twenty years on vinyl and you're still not buying physical media, are you?"},{"host":"Claudette","text":"I have a record player now! I'm evolving."},{"host":"Laura","text":"Sure you are."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"And one last thing before we roll on — this post from someone named Simon Gosden on Bluesky caught my eye."},{"host":"Laura","text":"What's the idea?"},{"host":"Claudette","text":"He pitches TV show ideas, and number thirty-eight is: Liz Truss in a remake of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, titled 'I'm a Lunatic Get Me Out of Here.'"},{"host":"Laura","text":"Okay, that's... that's actually good."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"The specificity of it. Truss, specifically. In that role."},{"host":"Laura","text":"I would watch that. I'm not proud, but I would."},{"host":"Claudette","text":"Which is exactly what the pitch is designed to do."},{"host":"Laura","text":"That one's going in the group chat."}]}