Lisa Marie Presley's Sudden Death Sparks COVID Vaccine Conspiracy Theories

Lisa Marie Presley's sudden death has prompted a flood of tributes from celebrities and fans—while others have hijacked the tragic news and used it as an opportunity to spread conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccine.

The singer-songwriter—the only child of rock 'n' roll legend Elvis Presley—passed away aged 54 on Thursday after being hospitalized earlier in the day.

According to the Associated Press, paramedics were dispatched to a Calabasas, California, residence Thursday morning following a report of a woman "in full cardiac arrest." Priscilla Presley had confirmed that her daughter had been hospitalized earlier in the day.

A spokesperson for Priscilla Presley said in a statement: "Priscilla Presley and the Presley family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Lisa Marie. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love, and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."

As news of Lisa Marie Presley's death circulated, a faction of people reacted by speculating about the cause of her death. Among those was country musician Travis Tritt, who used cautious language and innuendo rather than making an outright connection between her death and a COVID-19 vaccine.

"This is unbelievably sad," Tritt, who has previously spoken out against vaccine mandates, wrote on Truth Social in reaction to a Fox News article on Lisa Marie Presley's death. "How many more of these premature deaths have to happen before people start to question what the cause is?"

Screenshots of Tritt's post were shared on Twitter, where conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren posted a message that didn't refer to Lisa Marie Presley by name, but questioned a purported "trend" of sudden deaths.

"A lot of heartbreaking sudden deaths from heart issues lately," she tweeted. "I wonder what it could possibly be. Perhaps we should investigate this trend...."

Several Twitter users have shared screenshots of a March 2022 Facebook post that they have erroneously attributed to Lisa Marie Presley, in which the person—who is also called Lisa Marie—wrote about taking the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Lisa Marie Presley was a big proponent of the vaccine, she even did an advertisement for it," a Twitter user who posted one of the screenshots falsely claimed. "She started in March of last year. And would've had her final booster within the last month. There's nothing wrong with questioning."

Amid the flood of questions over whether Lisa Marie Presley had taken the jab, there was strong pushback from many other Twitter users.

Ron Filipkowski, an attorney who tracks conspiracy theories, posted a screenshot of Tritt's Truth Social comments, adding the caption: "Here we go."

Another user vowed to block any fellow social media users who shared similar speculation about the cause of Lisa Marie Presley's death.

"Filter Update: if you insinuate Lisa Marie Presley went into cardiac arrest because of the COVID-19 vaccine, that's an #instablock," they commented. "Her father and paternal grandmother both died of cardiac arrest, and she outlived them both. May Lisa Marie rest in peace and rise in glory."

Sharing similar information, journalist Yashar Ali described the vaccine speculation surrounding Lisa Marie Presley's death as "evil."

"Lisa Marie Presley had a well-documented history of heart disease in her family," Ali wrote. "She struggled with addiction for many years, just like her dad did. She also lost her beloved son to suicide two years ago. Making her death about a vaccine you don't even know she got is evil."

Another Twitter user slammed the "brainwashed sheep predictably blaming Lisa Marie Presley cardiac arrest on vaccines. These same people were strangely silent on [COVID] deaths when the increase started in... 2020."

Lisa Marie Presley was 9 years old when her father died of a heart attack on August 16, 1977. There were 11 drugs in the singer's blood at the time of his death.

Tennessee-born Lisa Marie Presley touched on her addiction to opioids and painkillers when she wrote a foreword for the 1999 book The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain.

"As I write this, I think of my four children, who gave me the purpose to heal, and the countless parents who have lost children to opioids and other drugs," she wrote. "Across America and the world, people are dying in mind-boggling numbers because of opioid and other drug overdoses."

"I experienced firsthand how hard it is to cut through all of the bad information out there to get help," she added. "We all need to educate ourselves and the people around us on the dangers of opioids and other drugs, and understand what we can do to keep ourselves and the people we love safe."

She had two children with musician Danny Keough: actress Riley Keough, 33, and Benjamin Keough. Benjamin, her only son, died by suicide in 2020 at age 27.

After separating from Keough after six years, Lisa Marie Presley was married to pop superstar Michael Jackson, from 1994 to 1996. Most recently, she was married to guitarist Michael Lockwood, with whom she had twin daughters, Finley and Harper, 14, before the two divorced in 2021.

Comedian Bob Saget, actress Betty White and rapper DMX were all subject to speculative posthumous claims that they had been vaccinated shortly before their deaths. These claims were made without evidence.

This notion was in part propagated by a link between COVID-19 vaccines and two heart conditions: myocarditis and pericarditis.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recognized a link between COVID-19 vaccines and these conditions, such cases have rarely been reported, according to the health body, and "have especially been in adolescents and young adult males within several days after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna)."

Moreover, multiple research studies have also found that the risk of myocarditis is higher after an infection from COVID-19, than after a vaccination for it.