Comedian Steve Rannazzisi doesn’t have many people laughing after confessing he fabricated an elaborate story about his whereabouts on September 11, 2001.
“As a young man, I made a mistake that I deeply regret and for which apologies may still not be enough,” The League star told the New York Times via his publicist today. “It is to the victims of 9/11 and to the people that love them — and the people that love me — that I ask for forgiveness.”
Steve publicly started the story in 2009 when he told Marc Maron he was working in the Merrill Lynch offices on the 54th floor of the south tower when a plane first struck the north tower.
I was there. The first tower got hit and we got jostled all over the place. Then the Port Authority came on the loud speaker, ‘Explosion in Tower 1, things are being taken care of, everyone remain where you are, stay calm, we’re figuring things out.’ And I was like, ‘I’m going to check this thing out. I went downstairs, went outside, saw all the pandemonium, and then about five or six minutes later, ‘bang’ [the second tower was struck]… I still have those dreams of like, you know, those falling dreams?
He later repeated some details of the story. However, the claims came under great scrutiny this week when people noted Merrill Lynch didn’t have offices there. In his admission, Steve confessed he was working miles away from the buildings on 9/11. He continued, “For many years, more than anything, I have wished that, with silence, I could somehow 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?”
The final season of The League is currently airing on FXX. Network spokespeople haven’t addressed the situation yet. However, Buffalo Wild Wings — which features Steve as the latest face of their ads — said they “are currently re-evaluating our relationship with Steve pending a review of all the facts.”
Some peers are standing by Steve, noting this situation is different from that of a person like Brian Williams.
“What @SteveRannazzisi did was super wrong, but If we were all held accountable for lies we told when we were none of us would be clean,” co-star Katie Aselton tweeted today. “I love @SteveRannazzisi and my heart goes out to him & his family. And my heart goes out to everyone he may have hurt. This sucks all around… Guys @SteveRannazzisi is a comedian. He tells jokes. He’s an actor on TV. He’s not running for office or raising your kids. #perspective”
Saturday Night Live‘s Pete Davidson, whose dad was one of the firefighters killed on 9/11, tweeted it “sucks to read this.” But, he added, “Steve is a funny guy and I love the League.”
UPDATE Pete also sarcastically tweeted, “It’s ok @SteveRannazzisi people make mistakes … Can’t wait to meet my dad for lunch later.”
Apparently not realizing Pete’s father was killed, Steve then responded, “Thank you pete. i really appreciate it.”
Pete pointed that out to him by saying, “I think you missed the point …” He then encouraged Steve to delete the tweet (which he did), saying, “I don’t want people to think you’re a moron. You’re way smarter than that… Take it easy on @SteveRannazzisi … He reached out to me and is truly sorry. We all sometimes lie and exaggerate a story to seem cooler … ..Unfortunately this is a very touchy topic n very near n dear 2 peoples hearts.Its years later but he apologized n owned up 2 it like a man.”
Do you think Steve’s lie is forgivable?
