Britney and Justin Not Dead After All

June 14, 2001 -- Teen icons and damn fine youngsters Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake are alive and, presumably, furiously smooching, two days after they were supposedly the victims of a deadly Los Angeles car crash. On Tuesday, a pair of dumb-ass San Jose-based radio DJs known as Kramer and Twitch triggered hundreds of panicked phone calls to Los Angeles authorities after they "reported" on their Extreme Nighttime Radio Show that the accident left Spears dead and Timberlake comatose.

"There is no truth to the rumor circulating around the world that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were involved in a car accident on Tuesday," Spears' publicist, Lisa Kasteler, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

She went on to say that the self-proclaimed tee-totaling virgin with the suspected breast implants was in "great health" and hard at work recording a new album, while the squeaky-clean Timberlake was touring with his band, 'N Sync.

Although the report hadn't aired on any legitimate news outlets such as CNN or MTV, the rumor continued to spread through Wednesday and morph as it took to the Internet grapevine. Chat rooms and fan sites were buzzing with reports that Spears was loaded, driving down an L.A. freeway at more than 100 miles per hour. Supposedly, an empty flask was found in the wreckage. An L.A. police spokeswoman said her department — as well as fire officials and local hospitals — spent the night answering phone calls from distraught fans and reporters.

The DJs, whose show is broadcast on KEGL-FM in Dallas, are well-acquainted with bad behavior. They've been fined for using expletives on the air and were once suspended for suggesting that motorists strike cyclists with their car doors and run them over. A spokeswoman for the station's corporate parent, Clear Channel Communications, said officials are looking into the incident, as are reps for both Spears and Timberlake.