Alicia Silverstone Has Confirmed She's Alive After Eating Poisonous Fruit
Alicia Silverstone's video eating a poisonous fruit in England alarmed viewers.
Published Aug. 21 2024, 9:30 a.m. ET
It's not often that you see a celebrity appearing to endanger their own lives on camera, but that's exactly what Alicia Silverstone did in a video posted to her social media channels on Aug. 19. In the video, Alicia picks what appears to be a poisonous fruit in London and appears to eat it.
After people realized that the fruit was in fact poisonous, many became concerned that Alicia would not survive ingesting it. Here's what we know about what happened the the actress and whether she's still alive.
![Alicia Silverstone at Elton John's Academy Awards party.](https://media.distractify.com/brand-img/wUrl3Ucyn/480x252/alicia-silverstone-still-alive-poisonous-fruit-2-1724246701700.jpg 480w, https://media.distractify.com/brand-img/wUrl3Ucyn/640x335/alicia-silverstone-still-alive-poisonous-fruit-2-1724246701700.jpg 640w, https://media.distractify.com/brand-img/wUrl3Ucyn/768x402/alicia-silverstone-still-alive-poisonous-fruit-2-1724246701700.jpg 768w, https://media.distractify.com/brand-img/wUrl3Ucyn/1024x536/alicia-silverstone-still-alive-poisonous-fruit-2-1724246701700.jpg 1024w, https://media.distractify.com/brand-img/wUrl3Ucyn/1280x670/alicia-silverstone-still-alive-poisonous-fruit-2-1724246701700.jpg 1280w, https://media.distractify.com/brand-img/wUrl3Ucyn/1440x754/alicia-silverstone-still-alive-poisonous-fruit-2-1724246701700.jpg 1440w, https://media.distractify.com/brand-img/wUrl3Ucyn/1600x838/alicia-silverstone-still-alive-poisonous-fruit-2-1724246701700.jpg 1600w, https://media.distractify.com/brand-img/wUrl3Ucyn/2160x1131/alicia-silverstone-still-alive-poisonous-fruit-2-1724246701700.jpg 2160w)
Is Alicia Silverstone still alive after eating poisonous fruit?
In the video she posted, Alicia asks her followers if they know what the fruit is, and then she reaches through a fence to pick one from someone's yard. Alicia then shows a small, orangish fruit to the camera after she's taken a bite out of it.
“I just bit into it because it was on the street, and we were discussing whether this was a tomato or not," she said in the video.
“It’s definitely not because look at these leaves,” she continued. “Those are the leaves, so what the heck is this?”
She continued as she started to better understand the flavor of the fruit.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to eat this. It’s almost like a pepper, does anybody know what this is? I don’t know what it is. I need somebody to tell me. I’m in England," she said.
As soon as fans saw the video, many were alarmed, saying that the bush that Alicia had picked the fruit from was a solanum pseudocapsicum and that the fruits on it were known as "Jerusalem cherries" or "winter cherries." Every part of this plant is poisonous to humans, especially the fruit, which has been known to cause vomiting, fever, sweating, stomach pain, headaches, and an increased heart rate.
Alicia has resurfaced to assure fans that she's fine.
After the bush was identified, many naturally wondered whether Alicia had actually come down with any of the symptoms associated with the fruit, and they also wondered whether she was still alive. It's worth noting that this fruit is not often fatal, but even so, some fans were concerned.
Thankfully, Alicia shared a throwback photo on Aug. 20 alongside the caption "Alive and well! Don’t worry … I didn’t swallow."
Alicia did not feel the need to justify her decision to eat random street fruit, but it seems like she avoided any of the worst side effects associated with eating the fruit. Even so, many were stunned by her willingness to expose herself to a fruit she didn't recognize just because she was curious about it.
Thankfully, though, no real harm came of it, and now, many other people walking the streets of England know that winter cherries are not, in fact, tomatoes. When you think about it, Alicia's video may have served as a kind of PSA on top of alarming her many followers about whether she had survived.