Comedian and star of the popular television series The League Stephen Rannazzisi admitted today that he had been lying for years about working in the World Trade Center and escaping death on September 11, 2001. Rannazzisi took to his Facebook to apologize for his horrendous lie, saying that it was a “terrible mistake” and “profoundly disrespectful.”
On Wednesday morning, Steve Rannazzisi posted this to his Facebook .
“As a young man, I made a mistake that I deeply regret and for which apologies may still not be enough. After I moved with my wife to Los Angeles from New York City in 2001 shortly after 9/11, I told people that I was in one of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. It wasn’t true. I was in Manhattan but working in a building in midtown and 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. 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? 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.”
Rannazzisi said that he worked for the investment bank Merrill Lynch on the 54th floor of the south tower and escaped after the first plane hit the tower, according to NBC News . The New York Times presented evidence that Rannazzisi was not working for Merrill Lynch when 9/11 occurred and, in fact, was working in Midtown Manhattan, which is miles from the World Trade Center. Merrill Lynch has no record of Steve Rannazzisi working for the bank.
Rannazzisi said that the close call was motivation to quit his job and move to Los Angeles and become an entertainer. Rannazzisi said that shortly after he moved to Los Angeles, he began telling the fake stories about escaping the 9/11 attack.
In an interview in 2009, Steve Rannazzisi said that he still has dreams about the incident and described them as “falling dreams.”
Fans on Rannazzisi Facebook have taken the lie hard, calling him pathetic and saying the only reason he is apologizing is because he was caught in the lie.
What is next for the League star? Will repercussions of his lie haunt him, or will everyone brush this under the rug?
[Image provided by Stephen Rannazzisi’s Facebook]
