‘FUNNY’

Avril Lavigne Finally Addresses ‘Dumb’ Body Double Conspiracy Theory

The crazy rumor goes that the singer-songwriter died in the early aughts and was replaced by a body double named Melissa.

Why’d we have to go and make things so complicated? Avril Lavigne is setting the record straight on the long-running conspiracy theory that she died two decades ago and was promptly replaced by a body double named Melissa. On Wednesday’s episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, the Girlfriend singer said she knew exactly what rumor host Alex Cooper was referring to when she brought it up. “I mean, it's just funny to me. Like, 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 said. After musing that the craziest thing people say about her online “could be worse,” the rocker put it to bed once and for all. “Obviously I am me,” she said with a laugh. “It’s so dumb.” Cooper wouldn’t say whether or not she personally believed the rumor, which surfaced in online forums after her debut album dropped in 2002. But she did observe that Lavigne, 39, hasn’t aged much since then. “I’m staring at you,” Cooper said. “And, like, I’m picturing you with your auburn hair. And I’m like, oh my God. You literally look the same from when you were younger.”