The confusion started with CBS News and the Los Angeles Police Department. CBS published Petty's obituary after tweeting that the LAPD had confirmed his death. The trade paper Variety followed, citing an unnamed source confirming the rocker's death.
Then the LAPD issued a statement saying it has no information on Petty's condition and that "initial information was inadvertently provided to some media sources."
"We apologize for any inconvenience in this reporting," the department said.
CBS and Variety amended their stories. CBS News also released a statement maintaining that it "reported information obtained officially from the LAPD about Tom Petty."
"The LAPD later said it was not in a position to confirm information about the singer," the statement said.
Both CBS and Variety now cite TMZ reporting that says Petty is "clinging to life" after suffering cardiac arrest.
But for many celebs, those tweets haven't been deleted.
