Steve Burns understands first-hand the detrimental impact online rumors and false narratives can have on public figures.
The former host of the children’s show Blue’s Clues recently reflected on the years-long persistence of a myth that he’d actually died after making his exit as host in 2002. “What a lot of people don’t understand is that during the show, the internet was beginning to internet, and the world decided, or a large portion of the world decided, that I had died,” he said in an appearance on Thursday’s episode of Rainn Wilson’s Soul Bloom podcast.
Describing himself as “in kind of the throes of this depression after I left the show,” Burns said that rumors he was “a dead heroin addict,” that he had “died of an overdose” or “died of suicide,” even that he “had wrapped a Dodge Charger around a tree” were “not what you want to hear when you’re severely clinically depressed.”
© Nickelodeon Network
Steve Burns on an episode of ‘Blue’s Clues’ in 1996
“When a rumor like that persists for three or four years, it stops being funny,” he said. “When it persists for 10 years it feels like a cultural preference… when it persists for 15 or 20 years, you start to feel like you’re supposed to be.”
After he left Blue’s Clues in 2002, Burns reflected, “that’s when alcohol became a thing in my life. I built a house in Brooklyn and never left it.”
He described becoming “completely unrecognizable – I didn’t recognize me. Everyone thought I was dead, and eventually I started playing along.”
Though he continued to make sporadic appearances on talk shows and programs like the 2006 Nickelodeon special Behind the Clues: 10 Years of Blue, the rumors persisted. They became widespread enough to merit a detailed Snopes page, which in 2015 declared that no, despite all the “evidence,” Burns had not in fact died.
Though the experience took a serious toll on Burns, rumors of his untimely demise have greatly abated, and he learned at least one valuable lesson: “Never Google myself.”
Burns has been able to come full circle with the destructive rumors and treat them now with playful humor. His current username on Instagram is @steveburnsisalive, and last September, he posted a selfie sporting a T-shirt bearing the phrase, “Not dead yet.”
After struggling with his mental health and largely stepping out of the spotlight in the years following his Blue’s Clues exit, Burns has taken back up the mantle of friend and gentle advisor to his social media followers.
Last March, Burns “checked in” with his fans following the release of Quiet on Set, a documentary series detailing allegations of the toxic work environment and abuse at Nickelodeon, the network that aired Blue’s Clues. He shared a similarly soothing video to his followers in November following the election of Donald Trump to the presidency.
You can watch the rest of Burns’ interview on the Soul Bloom podcast above.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
