There is a wild and rapidly spreading rumor on the web about Kanye West dying in a car accident. It is false.

West did not die in a crash involving two custom cars in Los Angeles, the rapper's girlfriend Amber Rose said on Twitter.

Rose tweeted:

"This 'RIP Kanye West' topic is not funny and it's NOT TRUE! He has people like myself and his family that love him very much. ... It's in extreme poor taste to have that as a trendy topic. It's totally disrespectful to make up a story like this we're all human ... and we all make mistakes and to say someone died cuz of a mistake is ridiculous. You wouldn't want someone to say that about you."

She is protesting that on Wednesday morning "Kanye West died" remains as one of the most-searched topics on Google Trends and "RIP Kanye West" is the top trend on Twitter.

It is unclear how the rumor began to spread on Facebook and MySpace. But MTV reported computer security blog Sophos.com tracked the origins of the scam to hackers.

Some speculate it may be a clever promotional stunt to promote his latest project - an 11-minute short film directed by Spike Jonze (JOHNZ').

The beleaguered rapper debuted the clip on his Web site Monday but later took it down. In it, West is shown acting drunk and obnoxious, and at the end of it, he stabs himself with a sword and pulls what appears to be a little demon out of his stomach. He then gives the demon a sword, and it stabs itself.

A rep for Jonze says the video was made within the past year. West's publicist did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.