Mark McGrath victim of online death hoax

Mark McGrath is the latest celebrity to fall victim to an Internet death hoax.

The former Sugar Ray frontman is indeed alive and well, despite a press release sent to some media outlets that claimed he had been shot and killed.

"Musician Mark McGrath has died at the age of 46," the release said. "McGrath was on set filming the second season of entertainment show 'Hot Package,' when he was confronted by a masked gunman and shot several times. The former Sugar Ray frontman died in the arms of his co-host Derrick Beckles on the Hollywood set of the show."

It continued, " In honor of Mr. McGrath's legacy, his team is asking in lieu of flowers, fans post a Sugar Ray selfie, holding a packet of sugar over their heart."

The alert, reportedly sent by a Los Angeles-based public relations firm, appears to have been a marketing stunt for TBS' Adult Swim show "Hot Package" (which airs its season premiere Friday at 12:30 a.m.), though the network says they had no knowledge of it.

"This press release did not come from Adult Swim and is not part of any network PR or marketing campaign for the show Hot Package," an Adult Swim spokesperson said in a statement, according to E! News.

McGrath, for his part, took to Twitter to address the rumors himself and apologize to fans.