Claim: Image purportedly claims to show that American rapper 6ix9ine has died due to kidney failure in a hospital.
Conclusion: The claim is false. No credible news outlets, official statements, or reliable sources support the claim. The image in the post dates back to July 2018, when 6ix9ine was robbed, injured and hospitalised. He is alive and currently lives in South Florida.
Rating: False 
Several social media users have claimed that American rapper 6ix9ine has passed away due to kidney failure. Verified X user ‘Tojisukuna56’ shared such a post with the caption : “RIP to American rapper six 9 who just lost his life due to kidney failure.” Attached to the post is a a hospital photograph that showcases 6ix9ine on the bed with his eyes closed. The post gained more than 12 million views and can be seen below –
RIP 🕊️ 😭 to American rapper six 9 who just lost his life due to kidney failure pic.twitter.com/SwZ01CV6tY
— Toji🦉 (@Tojisukuna56) May 21, 2026
Other users have shared similar claims that can be seen here and here
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found that it is false. There is no credible reporting, official confirmation or trustworthy evidence backing the claim. The image being circulated actually traces back to July 2018, when rapper 6ix9ine was reportedly robbed, assaulted, and later taken to the hospital. He is alive and currently lives in South Florida.
Details:
We first conducted a reverse image search with the phrase “American rapper 6ix9ine has died due to kidney failure” to learn more. However no credible news outlets have published any news of 6ix9ine’s death in May 2026 due to kidney failure.
Following this, we learnt from a TOI report published on January 7, 2026 that rapper 6ix9ine began his three month jail sentence. The report notes that “Rapper 6ix9ine turned himself in on Tuesday, January 6, 2026” and his last moments were streamed by Adin Ross. The rapper violated “three conditions of his supervised release” and later pleaded guilty for possessing cocaine and MDMA at his South Florida home. View a section from the report below –
According to a report by WION, rapper 6ix9ine was released from Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre on April 3, 2026. After leaving prison, he posted a video showing off a SpongeBob toy allegedly signed by Nicolás Maduro, saying, “Look, Maduro signed it” and reading out the message, “Venezuela forever.” The report also stated that both men were housed in the facility’s Special Housing Unit due to their high-profile status. View a section from the report below –
Upon searching for the latest news about 6ix9ine, we came across a report by AOL published on May 17 , 2026 that noted his controversial comments. 6ix9ine sparked backlash after saying his girlfriend was “down” and “open-minded” while claiming he would want an abortion if their unborn child was a girl because he wanted a son instead. However, we did not find any evidence of him being hospitalized or kidney failure as claimed in the viral post.
Lastly, we conducted a reverse image search on the image attached in the claim to learn about its source. The search took us to an article by Consequence published on July 22, 2018 that mentioned how “6ix9ine was reportedly kidnapped and robbed early Sunday morning, and is currently recovering in a hospital.” The report accounts TMZ’s report that states“ 6ix9ine having said that he was confronted by two gunmen” who then dragged him into the car and “ was forced to hand over his jewelry” and cash. View the report below:
Other search results took us to a Youtube video published on July 22, 2018 titled : “6ix9ine Hospitalized after Being Robbed for $750k in Jewelry and Money” that uses the same image which can be seen at 0:30 timestamp. Another result took us to a report by Pix11 Morning News published on July 23, 2018 that also uses the same image.
Hence the rapper is alive and maintains an online presence through Instagram livestreams, viral clips, and collaborations with influencers.
Thus, the claim is false.
