Bill Cosby is not dead -- and he's not pleased about a fourth death hoax

Bill Cosby called in to "Larry King Live" on Monday night to chat about his death -- the death that happened only in the context of an Internet hoax propagated on Twitter. No, Bill Cosby is not dead.

"Emotional friends have called about this misinformation," he said on his own Twitter account. "To the people behind the foolishness, I’m not sure you see how upsetting this is."

This is the fourth time it's happened, the comedian says, and it's just not funny anymore. (Was it ever?) "This time, people are not amused by this," he told CNN (listen here -- and make sure you know first who Stephen Wright is -- we imagine host Kyra Phillips wishes she did).

Cosby told about his daughter calling to check if he was OK, about a restaurateur friend calling after his son and the people in his restaurant had started crying, about Malcolm Jamaal Warner's mom calling to check on his health.

"Maybe psychiatrists will say I'm feeding [the rumor starter's] ego, but I just want to say to friends of that person: Just tell him to stop, because it isn't funny."

So what does Cos expect in the afterlife? He's not sure, but says, "I have an impression of what Hell is like. ... everybody's laughing, but there's nothing funny."

We'd imagine also that the Devil has a Twitter account too.

-- Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: Bill Cosby gives the keynote address during the African American Education Summit at the 2010 Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 3. Credit: Chuck Cook / Associated Press

Related dispatches from the Ministry of Gossip:

Russell Crowe is alive and well and added to our celebrity death hoax gallery

Betty White is just fine -- though one hoaxer better lie low for a while

Gordon Lightfoot's death hoax: a post-game wrap-up, with an apology to Twitter

Gordon Lightfoot: This is your death on Twitter

Who else has been the victim of a death hoax? Enough people to fill a celebrity death hoax photo gallery.