Van Morrison Baby News Was a Hoax

Posted on Dec 31st 2009 1:00PM by Steve Baltin
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If you were planning on sending Van Morrison a baby gift on the news that the 64-year-old singer was a dad again this week, save your money. Turns out the report -- which said Morrison and his manager Gigi Lee were proud parents of a baby boy, Geroge Ivan Morrison III -- was false. A brief statement on Vanmorrison.com Monday, December 29, announced the birth but Morrison said Thursday through a press release the false news was actually the result of hackers.

"Claims were made relating to my personal life in a 'statement' purporting to come from me. Once these claims were brought to our attention, they were taken down from the site," the press release read. "The comments ... did not come from me. They are completely and utterly without foundation."

The hackers went to a lot of trouble to make their hoax seem authentic, not only adding a name, but putting in details like the child was "the spitting image" of his daddy, and George Ivan Morrison had dual citizenship in both the US and the UK. But Morrison didn't find it funny, for obvious reasons.

Making the announcement even worse is that Morrison says he's never heard of Gigi Lee and to clarify matters, he adds, "For the avoidance of all doubt and in the interests of clarity, I am very happily married to Michelle Morrison with whom I have two wonderful children."

According to the release, this is the second time in three months the site has been hacked. Morrison isn't giving the culprits a chance for a third strike. A message on the official site, which shows a picture of the singer and advertises his 'Live at the Hollywood Bowl' concert film,' reads, "New website coming soon. Sign up for updates."