Tweet With Bizarre Anne Hathaway Cannibalism Claim Goes Viral

While Anne Hathaway's various movie and TV roles may have led fans to associate her with several traits, cannibalism is yet to be among them—in fiction or in real life.

So when the Oscar-winning Les Misérables star's name was falsely tied to such behavior in a tweet that went viral over the weekend, it's understandable that a large number of the reactions were of shock and bemusement.

The shenanigans started when one Twitter user shared an image of Hathaway, 39, posing in the pages of Elle France's latest issue on June 25, racking up more than 22,000 retweets and 405,000 likes on the micro-blogging platform.

As fans of Hathaway expressed their adoration for the screen star, another Twitter user shared a quote tweet, in which they stated that "every tweet about anne hathaway going viral like police didn't find human remains and evidence of cannibalism in her LA home that she sold in 2013."

The tweet prompted a demand from one social media user for the person making the erroneous claim to "show proof" that such an event happened, while another pointed out that the New York native "doesn't look like" she had eaten people.

"What are you meant to look like when u eat people?" questioned another.

Hours after leaving the ensuing debate to simmer, during which the post garnered more than 3,000 retweets and 44,000 likes, the bizarre tweet's author returned to the platform on June 26 to share another tongue-in-cheek comment.

"Good Evening, 'Anne Hathaway is a cannibal' was a 24 hour sociological study on spreading misinformation online and was conducted by Harvard University," they wrote. "We are now complete with our study. Thank you for your time."

Of course, should it remain a question for Hathaway fans, the star has never spoken of being a cannibal, nor have there ever been reports suggesting such.

Still, one Twitter user admitted that they had been taken in by the false claim to the extent that they had spent "15 minutes googling this s***."

Away from macabre fantastical social media posts, Hathaway recently spoke out on an immeasurably more serious issue, when she addressed the then-impending overturning of Roe v. Wade.

In an Interview magazine article published last week, where several celebrities posed questions for the actor, Hathaway's Princess Diaries co-star Julie Andrews enquired: "I have never seen you angry. What really ticks you off?"

Hathaway answered that "what makes me really angry is that I can look at a newspaper and on the front page, see that there are plans in place to overturn Roe v. Wade next to an article about how there's a baby formula shortage, which has reduced the availability of baby formula by 43 percent.

"And what makes me angry is the people that are cheering for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, will not have a conversation about that point in the future when those two stories intersect.

"And the people who have been working so hard to overturn Roe v. Wade have done so without making any effort at creating a more fair, just, and equitable society, and affordable, by the way, in which to have children. I'm not someone who likes shaming people, but like I said, I'm angry."

The Supreme Court used its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade—the landmark 1973 ruling that had legalized abortion across the U.S.—sparking widespread criticism and protests.

The decision could see abortion bans in roughly half of the states in the U.S. Thirteen states, mainly in the South and Midwest, already have laws on the books that ban abortion in the case of Roe being overturned.