Avril Lavigne has responded to that insane conspiracy theory that she died in 2003 and was replaced by a stand-in named Melissa.
On the latest episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, host Alex Cooper asked Lavigne up-front about the long-gestating conspiracy theory, which surfaced over two decades ago after the success of her debut album, Let Go. "I mean, it's just funny to me," she told Cooper. "On one end, everyone's like, 'You look the exact same. You haven't aged a day.' But then other people are like, 'There's a conspiracy theory that I'm not me.'"
She joked that, ultimately, there are worse conspiracy theories to be on the receiving end of. "Honestly, it’s not that bad. It could be worse, right?" she laughed. "I feel like I got a good one. I don’t feel like it’s negative. It’s nothing creepy. ... Obviously I am me, it’s so dumb. I think that they’ve done that with other artists. I’m not the only one. I think, like, other people have that."
Cooper disagreed and said that the theory is "a little creepy," but conceded that she can see where it came from because she doesn't look like she's aged. "You literally look the same from when you were younger," said Cooper of Lavigne, 39. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2019, she dismissed the conspiracy theory as "a dumb internet rumor."
When Lavigne catapulted into worldwide fame at just 17 with songs like "Sk8er Boi" and "Complicated," a conspiracy theory that she was replaced in 2003 with a body double named Melissa Vandella. The theories have circulated as far back as 2005 but gained further traction in 2011. She's far from the first artist to become the subject of such conspiracy theories, though.
In the '60s, a widespread rumor circulated that Paul McCartney of the Beatles died in a car crash and was replaced with a lookalike to combat potential grief at the height of Beatlemania. The whole situation was further fueled by fans reversing sections of White Album to reveal what they believed were hidden messages, including one they claim sounded like, "Paul is dead, man." He later referenced the theory with his 1993 live album, Paul is Live.
Then there's the Gucci Mane clone theory, which circulated after he was released from prison in better shape than when he first went behind bars. "I kind of morphed into a different person. Shed some of my old ways," he said when asked about the theory in 2018. I tried to lose weight, I tried to take care of myself, change my thinking, my environment and associates... I guess that's the transformation everybody's saying they can't believe. But I can believe it."