Diego Maradona’s name was trending on Twitter on Wednesday as football fans took to social media to share their condolences on the passing of one of FIFA’s best players in history.
But to the surprise of many, the news about his death was often accompanied by another hashtag following a misreading of his name, with many fans rushing instead to mourn the loss of “Madonna” - America’s legendary pop queen.
Following the confusion, which has seen a combination of both genuine mistakes and trolling, Madonna’s name also climbed to the top ranks of Twitter trends during the day.
Madonna is #1 trending for the 3rd time this year pic.twitter.com/5kvzUFvCrc
— Madonna Charts (@_chartsmadonna) November 25, 2020
RIP Madonna x pic.twitter.com/OJjcbTSyy3
— Naddia (@naddiaport) November 26, 2020
Unseen Footage from Evita #Madonna pic.twitter.com/Ui5Q3zlvL1
— Dan💗 (@masterpiecekaty) November 26, 2020
Maradona on the left has passed away, Madonna on the right still alive. clear? pic.twitter.com/Wc9a176g4V
— Dr FarUK Ay (@ladyNurban) November 25, 2020
RIP Madonna 😭🙏 On the 2006 #GRAMMYs, Mariah Carey was supposed to open the ceremony but Madonna insisted that she wanted to instead or else she will NOT attend the show. Mariah Carey lost the opening slot but was the ONLY performer who received a standing ovation. pic.twitter.com/wm1l0o4YYW
— 𝕾𝖙𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖒 𝕸𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖆𝖍🎄 (Fan Account) (@stream_with) November 26, 2020
Later, it was difficult to discern whether fans who don't follow football still believed that it was the 62-year-old "Like a Prayer" singer who had passed away or whether they simply could not help but mock the embarrassing mix-up.
RIP Madonna pic.twitter.com/UYdZHq4wqL
— Distanciamento (@euzaoao) November 25, 2020
RIP Madonna, you'll be forever in our hearts. Legend. pic.twitter.com/EnMrIUZhRs
— little icah (@poemtoahoe) November 25, 2020
RIP Madonna 😰😓😡🤧😭 Gone but never forgotten, didn’t know you played football 😥 fly high angle ✨☺️❤️ pic.twitter.com/dwgH7F2yfm
— RD (@rreeces) November 25, 2020
GenZ.... All these jokes about Madonna's death and the confusion with Maradona's name proves once again that the Internet is an evil place. 😂 pic.twitter.com/XXHykjJlNY
— GEN Z NATION (@genznation) November 26, 2020
Madonna’s “death” eventually became a viral trend, with netizens sharing memes and jokes on the topic, trolling on the assumption that the musician was probably not happy to learn about her demise from the net on Thursday morning.
madonna logging into twitter to find out she has died pic.twitter.com/MDllPh4oHm
— john (@johnmceneaney) November 25, 2020
Madonna opening Twitter just to see that people think she died be like: pic.twitter.com/BKLA547klf
— ПӨΣMI (*´ω｀*) (@noemimimim1) November 25, 2020
Madonna this morning pic.twitter.com/rVKngr6pDm
— Reductive ( Ray of light era) 🌟 (@GodnessMadame) November 25, 2020
Madonna logging into Twitter to find out that she has died. pic.twitter.com/8WmeQ0Mex2
— christine (@witchyjmn) November 25, 2020
But there was little laughter coming from Argentina, which has since announced three days of national mourning over Maradona’s death. The 1986 World Cup champion died on 25 November in Buenos Aires at the age of 60 of a heart attack after previously undergoing brain surgery earlier this month.
