Paid Actors

Another celebrity may be losing his job after admitting he included himself in a real-life tragedy that he had nothing to do with. This time, it’s Steve Rannazzisi — co-star of The League and recently hired TV pitchman for Buffalo Wild Wings — who revealed this morning that he’d lied about his account of being in the World Trade Center when it was struck by a terrorist-piloted plane.
In 2009, and possibly before, the actor spun a tale of working for Merrill Lynch on the 54th floor of the Trade Center’s south tower when the first plane collided with the north tower.
“I was there and then the first tower got hit and we were like jostled all over the place,” he said at the time, describing the hectic scene as he and others fled the building before the south tower was struck by a second jet.
Rannazzisi said that the event was, as one would expect, a life-changing moment that helped put him on the path toward acting and comedy.
But people recently began to question the veracity of his story and there were no records of the actor ever having been employed by Merrill Lynch.
Today, Rannazzisi confessed (through a rep) to the NY Times, that “I was not at the Trade Center on that day… I don’t know why I said this. This was inexcusable. I am truly, truly sorry.”
On Twitter, the actor added further apologies.
“t 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,” he added.
But it may be too little, too late for Rannazzisi’s job as a hot wings shill.
“We are disappointed to learn of Steve’s misrepresentations regarding the events of September 11, 2001,” a Buffalo Wild Wings rep tells AdWeek. “We are currently reevaluating our relationship with Steve pending a review of all the facts.”