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Four years ago today el Divo de Juárez, Juan Gabriel, passed away at 66 years old. With a career that spanned 51 years, fans all over the world were heartbroken and mourned the legends death. Juanga had just performed the night before at The Forum in Los Angeles so fans were shocked to hear that he died in his home of a heart attack. At least that’s what everyone believed until bizarre conspiracy theories surrounding Gabriel’s death started going viral. Conspiracy theories about celebrity deaths are nothing new- from Elvis, Michael Jackson, and Tupac, some deaths are harder to accept than others.
The conspiracies started in November 2018 when his alleged former manager, Joaquín Muñoz said in an interview with Televisa’s Intrusos program that Juanga is alive and well. Muñoz explained, “He faked his death…He’s at home; he’s well, comfortable and everything.” “Next month, everyone will know. He’s preparing everything so that after the 15th [of December], he can appear in public. He’s bored with the way [his life] is; the situation he’s living in is a horrible situation that I don’t wish upon anyone.”
Gabriel‘s son, Iván Aguilera, quickly shut down the rumors and said that his father was in fact dead. Aguilera also said Muñoz never actually managed his dad and was just a friend trying to promote an upcoming book. TMZ reported that Aguilera even produced Juanga’s death certificate. Muñoz however claimed the certificate was forged. Fans waited eagerly for December 15th to see the resurrection of Juanga but of course, he never came. Muñoz defended his prophecy and said he didn’t mean it’d be that day specifically, “I never said that he would appear on the 15th,” he said on Al Rojo Vivo. “[I said we can expect his return] from the 15th on… Most likely the 7th of January, which is his birthday.”
Many people shrugged off Munoz until Mexican journalist Jorge Carbaja backed up his claims and provided what he called “video proof” in January 2019. Carbaja claims that Juanga faked his death to escape situations that were threatening his life. Carbaja reported the news on his YouTube channel, Productora 69, and referred to Juanga by his real name Alberto Aguilera Valadez. According to Carbaja, Juanga met with a former love named Humberto and they posed for a selfie but it was accidentally recording.
Carbaja shared the video and said it was blurry because Gabriel had a “broken and old” cell phone. Carbaja also claimed that he saw Gabriel in person and they even talk on WhatsApp. Carbaja went on to say that he and Juan’s former manager were in danger because they revealed the truth. He said, “It is more than clear that Joaquín Muñoz, Juan Gabriel, and I are in some danger from people who are not happy with what we have said.” He claimed that Juanga is trying to protect them and explained, “As a way to protect ourselves, for which I am very grateful, Alberto Aguilera Valadez himself decided to tell Humberto absolutely everything, to give him documents, videos, photos, take selfies.” Carbaja also claimed that Juanga was waiting until the President of Mexico could meet with him, ”His life depends on the meeting with the president of Mexico. His life is at risk, so Juan Gabriel requires that the president of Mexico give him a date to meet” he said. Later that year, Carbaja and Muñoz claimed that Gabriel was living in Morelos.
Then in September 2019, Carbaja claimed that Gabriel was still alive but very sick. According to Caracol Radio, Carbaja said, “He has a cough, he vomited blood, he has angina, fever, right now he has been in bed for three days.” Despite Gabriel’s son and lawyer filing a lawsuit against Muñoz for his ”defamatory” claims, he hasn‘t stopped. Just this last March, Muñoz claimed that Gabriel was healthy and isolated during the pandemic. According to Archyde, he left a message on social media announcing that Gabriel is well during the COVID-19 pandemic, “Sweethearts, I inform you that Alberto is already perfect. He had a flu and a cough, but he’s got over it. Do not wait for the coronavirus to become infected, Alberto is well protected. Today was very hot, but in the afternoon it started to rain and cooled down.” In the same publication, Munoz insisted that Gabriel is still waiting for the President to meet with him, “Alberto is not going to leave until the President takes pity on him and tells the Prosecutor of the Nation to investigate the situation of Juan Gabriel.”
Then on May 10th a video circulated online of a man who resembled Juanga explaining that he had to fake his death. The video began with him saying, “Hello friends, now I did have the need to communicate with you because, as you know, I had to fake my death because of all that question that came to Mexico from the 4T but I had no other choice and right now I know that everyone is locked up in Mexico who are suffering from this coronavirus.”
He went on, “Right now, it is May 2020, I couldn’t bear the desire to want to communicate with you and send you a message of encouragement with all my affection, my love … My audience is what I can live on, I couldn’t take it anymore, so here you have me in May 2020, sending a greeting to all my people and I hope that this happens in Mexico soon and next year I will be in contact with you soon and I will tell you the truth.” People quickly doubted the authenticity of the video because of the voice.
Telemundo and Univision addressed the conspiracy today and had fans on Twitter going crazy. One fan tweeted, “Nah I’m watching suelta la sopa and they STILL got us questioning if Juan Gabriel is really alive LMAO.” Another wrote “did I wake up in alternate reality or is Univision really speaking about a conspiracy about Juan Gabriel still being alive? I mean I‘ve been saying that…” According to Univision, the doors to his mansion were open today for the first time to his fans who had the opportunity to tour the gardens of his home.
The theories continue...