The cast of Friends is known all over the world for their performances on the long-running sitcom, but David Schwimmer surely wasn't expecting a recent case of mistaken identity that had people suspecting him of theft in Blackpool, England. A Ross Gellar lookalike was spotted allegedly robbing a restaurant, taking off with a flat of cans and (somewhat hilariously) looking straight up at a security camera in the process. David Schwimmer took to social media to exonerate himself in the best way, posting this:
Maybe the real culprit should have dressed as the Holiday Armadillo. There you go, Blackpool law enforcement officers! David Schwimmer couldn't be robbing a restaurant in England if he was busy robbing a grocery story in New York City. Hey, sometimes a guy with a Ross Geller-ish face just needs a flat of cans without paying for it. Schwimmer's Twitter post is a response to all the reactions in response to the original Blackpool photo, which had folks on social media chiming in that Schwimmer totally looked like the culprit.
David Schwimmer, who landed a new sitcom role this season as Grace's boyfriend on the Will & Grace revival, proved he can deliver laughs in real life as well as in front of the camera. I don't know that many people genuinely thought Schwimmer was in Blackpool to steal a flat of cans, but a lot of people had fun with the idea. In fact, the Dumfries Galloway Police Division had some entertaining comments about the alleged culprit:
And if you see him keep away, he is known to have studied Karate and we believe he has mastered the art of Unagi, the state of total awareness.
In a particularly memorable episode of Friends, Ross claimed to Rachel and Phoebe that he'd mastered the art of Unagi, which Rachel and Phoebe believed was a type of sushi rather than a state of total awareness. Unagi failed to give Ross a jump on his friends more than once, so perhaps it wouldn't be enough to keep any David Schwimmer-esque criminals out of the reach of the law for long.
The Blackpool Police clearly received at least some suggestions that David Schwimmer was the man behind the robbery, as they shared a response on their Facebook page:
Thank you to everyone for your speedy responses. We have investigated this matter thoroughly and have confirmed that David Schwimmer was in America on this date. We're so sorry it has to be this way.
Who says police departments can't have fun on social media? The Blackpool page even riffed on the unforgettable Friends theme song that may now be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Their investigation into David Schwimmer's whereabouts at the time of the crime couldn't have been too difficult considering he was all the way across the pond!
Another commenter is clearly a fan of Friends, posting a reference to an episode that was quite embarrassing for Ross:
If this man comes into your shop wearing leather pants keep an eye on the talcum powder section
In this particular episode, Ross wore a pair of leather pants on a date. The pants were extremely tight and stuck to his legs when he began sweating. Heading to the bathroom for some air, he found he could not pull his pants back up. Desperately trying a variety of solutions, he wound up putting talcum powder all over his legs to try and absorb the sweat. Unsurprisingly, this did not work, and he did not get a second date.
We can only hope that David Schwimmer continues to stick with acting and avoid falling into a life of crime. You can find him on NBC with the Will & Grace revival, and all ten seasons of Friends are available streaming on Netflix if you're in the mood for a blast from the Ross Gellar past. There are plenty of current offerings in the fall TV lineup as well.
