Comedian Steve Rannazzisi earns his living by telling jokes and fabricating the truth at times, but his most recent lie about being present at The World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks is one that has cost him a commerical deal with Buffalo Wild Wings, and could have also cost him a one hour comedy special with Comedy Central. However, in his favor, Comedy Central still aired the special after Rannazzisi issued a public apology.
"I was not at the Trade Center on that day," Rannazzisi explained in a statement provided by his publicist, Matthew Labov. A public admittance that was made in an attempt to clarify why he initially told the public that back in 2009, he was, in fact there, and had been affected by the tragedy. NY Times reported the apology came after Rannazzisi was questioned about the happenings of that day by a NY Times reporter, with evidence proving that the story told in 2009 was all fiction.
In detail, the 37-year-old funny man recalled "working at Merrill Lynch's offices on the 54th floor of the south tower when the first plane struck the north tower." He gave emotional recounts of fleeing from the building to the streets just moments before the second plane hit, and how it was the traumatic events of that day that moved him to pursue a career as an entertainer, and not waste life's precious moments.
The fictional story has caused Buffalo Wild WIngs to cut all ties with the comedian stating, "We are disappointed to learn of Steve's misrepresentations regarding the events of September 11, 2001." The fabricated story also left Comedy Central struggling with what decision to make regarding their relationship with Rannazzisi, but ultimately, moved forward with the scheduled one hour comedy special, Breaking Dad .
According to TMZ, the network aired the special on Saturday night, Sept. 19.
NY Times reported the network's statement "while Mr. Rannazzi's deception had been "upsetting" and "unfortunate," it still would go forward with him as a character in the show's final season."
Rannazzisi explained how he is ashamed of what he did and wishes he could erase his mistake
"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?"
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