Is Bob the Builder Dead? This X Post Claims He Died in Atlanta

An X (formerly Twitter) post from @DatDaDatty, a self-professed musician, began making the rounds in mid-August 2025, claiming the iconic PBS character Bob the Builder had died. Bob, the star of the children’s show named after him, goes on adventures with his team of construction vehicles and tools to tackle building jobs around town. The series ran from 1999 to 2012 for 21 seasons, then returned for a reboot from 2015 to 2018.

We hadn’t heard from Bob since, until 2025, when his name suddenly flooded X in posts claiming he had died in Atlanta, of all places, with “three gunshots to the chest.” Naturally, the rumor caught people’s attention. Even though Bob isn’t a real person, users still tried to piece together who the “culprit” could be. After some digging, we may have found what sparked the original post about Bob in the first place.

The X post claiming Bob the Builder had died, complete with the dates 1999-2025, started making the rounds in August 2025, and it seems to trace back to the song “Community” by hip-hop artist JID (real name Destin Choice Route), featured on his 2025 album, “God Does Ugly.”

In the track, JID name-drops the beloved PBS character, rapping: “It’s off the kilter, I say the words without a filter / You gotta have nerve, it’ll make you strong if it don’t kill ya / I’ll put a bullet in Bob the f--kin’ Builder / ’Fore they try and kick us out the building, what about the children?”

Here, JID isn’t actually threatening Bob; it’s a metaphor, meant to fit the rhyme while painting a bigger, more dramatic picture. But, naturally, the internet took the line literally. Now, people are piecing together their own “murder mystery,” with many pointing fingers at JID since he was the last one to “threaten” Bob.

In reality, the actual Bob the Builder from the PBS series is still alive and well in the world of animation, and if PBS ever wanted to bring him back, they could. Still, the rumor has sparked a wave of funny responses and memes that prove the internet can make something out of nothing.

With news of Bob the Builder being “dead,” netizens are, of course, on the hunt for his “murderer.” Some are showing real commitment to the hype, like @Finalbossjimmy, who posted a photo of one of the Olsen twins as a child holding two firearms with the caption, “Who did it??” And that’s just the beginning, here are a few more notable ones.

We also can’t forget to include the one above from @wavu_is_active, who shared a picture of Steve Harvey pouring himself a shot with the caption, “The violence in Atlanta is getting out of hand. RIP Bob the Builder.”