Jarad Anthony Higgins, otherwise known as the famous rapper, Juice WRLD was a 21 year old. He was known for his song, Lucid Dreams, as it helped him rise to fame. On December 8th, news broke out that he died and that the cause of death was unknown. NBC Chicago reported that the Chicago Police say Higgins “suffered a medical emergency” [1]. The police were searching his luggage, when he started convulsing and was sent to the hospital immediately, where he was later pronounced dead [1]. They found a large sum of marijuana and prescription codeine cough syrup in his luggage [1].
So, the theory that comes to play is that his death is not real and he is still alive. Tweets and song lyrics Juice WRLD wrote have people doubting his death as he had made reference to his fame in relation to faking his death. He had also pointed out that many young rappers have been dying at such a young age, 21 which is how old he was at the time of his death. So, is that supposed to be a coincidence? He even compared himself to John Lennon in his song, “All girls are the same” only to later die on December 8th the same day as Lennon.
This theory further develops as a few TikTok users called the hospital Juice was admitted to, only to find out that no one under the name Jarad Anthony Huggins (Juice’s legal name) had actually been admitted there [2]. As a result, many believe instead of flying to Chicago, Juice flew to the Bahamas and faked his death. So, I will refer to these set of claims as The Theory of Juice WRLD's Death. Subsequently, this entry aims to determine whether this theory qualifies as a conspiracy theory.
So, is this theory a Conspiracy Theory according to Keeley’s definition?
Keeley's definition of a conspiracy theory is a proposed explanation of some historical event (or events) in terms of the significant causal agency of a relatively small group of persons- the conspirators- acting in secret. Now looking at each part of the definition, we will see if this theory is a conspiracy theory [3]. The first part to look at is, if it is a proposed explanation of some historical event (or events). This theory is about Juice WRLD’s death, so it certainly seems to be an explanation of a historical event. Juice WRLD was a famous rapper, known world wide. He impacted many lives throughout his career with his music and influence as a famous person. Even more so, multiple news outlets reported his death, so it is an explanation of a historical event. Thus, this theory fulfills the first part of Keeley’s definition of a conspiracy theory.
The other part to look at is if the historical event explained is conspired by a relatively small group of people working in secret. The conspirators do not need to be powerful but they have to play a pivotal role in bringing about said event [3]. Additionally conspirators can not be a lone agent, as Keeley states actions of a lone agent is not a conspiracy theory [3]. Since Juice talked a lot about death in his songs and even tweeted about faking his own death when he became famous, we can look at him and his team being the conspirators. Usually when you’re famous you have no more than a handful of people by your side, as a team. So Juice and his associates are the relatively small group of people working in secret.
Looking at this secrecy criteria, Keeley stated that every conspirator has nefarious (bad) intentions or else they would not be acting in secret [3]. While many have talked about Juice faking his death, it is not publicly known if this is true, so it is a secret. Faking your own death can be harming to close friends and family members as they are in depressed state, mourning you. When your famous this feeling of hurt and mourning only intensifies, so I would say that the conspirators had nefarious intentions. As a result, this theory fulfills the requirement of being a historical event conspired by a relatively small group of people working in secret.
In conclusion, upon evaluating this theory, it does fulfill all the criteria for Keeley’s definition, so it is a conspiracy theory. Since, Juice WRLD's death is a historical event and the theory explains said event. In addition, the conspirators have been able to keep secret Juice's faked death.