Comedian Steve Rannazzisi, a star on FXX’s The League, has admitted that his elaborate story of a harrowing escape of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 was all a lie.
Rannazzisi claimed that he worked at Merrill Lynch and was in the south tower as the first plane hit the north tower. He claimed that he had rushed to the street just before the second plane hit. Then, he decided to leave New York to become a comedian in Los Angeles. He told the story in a 2009 interview with Marc Maron, in another podcast in 2011 and in other interviews.
However, after asking him about the story, Rannazzisi admitted to The New York Times that this was all made up. The Times discovered that something might have been up when it found that there were no records of him ever working at Merrill Lynch.
“I was not at the Trade Center on that day,” Rannazzisi said in a statement to the Times. “I don’t know why I said this. This was inexcusable. I am truly, truly sorry.”
Rannazzisi added that he had hoped that not bringing the story up again would “erase a story told by an immature young man. It only made me more ashamed. How could I tell my children to be honest when I hadn’t come clean about this?”
Buffalo Wild Wings, which features Rannazzisi in commercials, said that they are “currently re-evaluating our relationship with Steve pending a review of all the facts.”
The League is currently in its seventh and final season and Rannazzisi is scheduled to appear at a panel for the show at New York Comic-Con next month. He also has a Comedy Central special airing this weekend.
image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com
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