The League's Steve Rannazzisi Apparently Made Up His 9/11 Survivor Story
Steve Rannazzisi, best known for his work on FXX’s The League, has long told the story of how he narrowly escaped with his life from the World Trade Center on 9/11. The brush with death convinced him to follow his dreams and leave his job at Merrill Lynch. The life-affirming tale has long played well in interviews and on podcasts, but unfortunately, it turns out the entire thing is one big fat lie.
Earlier this week, the actor was presented with evidence that called into question his account. Merrill Lynch has no record of his employment, and the company didn’t even keep offices in the World Trade Center. So, upon further review, he finally decided to come clean and admit he made up the entire thing and just kept doubling down on the lie in subsequent interviews.
Here’s what he told The New York Times…
Through stand-up specials and acting appearances, Steve Rannazzisi has long built a reputation as being a likeable everyman,the bumbling, loveable dude who means well. This fabricated story runs opposite that reputation. Nothing about it means well at all, and there’s a good chance it will lead to lost opportunities and lost revenue. The actor is currently employed as the lead in commercials for Buffalo Wild Wings, and while a formal decision hasn’t been made about his future, the company released a statement that wasn’t exactly glowing.
It’s unclear exactly where The League star will go from here, but considering how much of a PR disaster this is, it’s likely he’ll step away for a little bit and hope it all blows over. Here’s to hoping when he returns, it’ll be with a little more honesty and a little less pride.
CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER
Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News
Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Ways Tell-All Kicked Off By Revealing Several Cast Members In The United States, But Who Ends Up Staying?
Lord Of The Rings Icon John Rhys-Davies On What It Would Take For Him To Return As Gimli In The New Movie
'We Have Bad Chemistry': Night Court's Wendie Malick And John Larroquette Talk Dan's Relationship With Julianne As She Becomes A Series Regular