|
Rannazzisi, star of the FX comedy series "The League," had
described in many interviews his memories of working for Merrill
Lynch in Manhattan's World Trade Center when hijacked planes
were flown into the buildings.
Rannazzisi, 37, said the events inspired him to move to Los
Angeles and pursue a comedy career. But the New York Times last
month uncovered the truth: That Merrill Lynch had no record of
his employment, and had no offices in either tower.
"My dumb mistake created a story that hit a wound that should
have never been touched," Rannazzisi told Howard Stern on
Stern's daily radio show.
But, he added, "It was a completely out of the blue situation,"
describing how the deception unfolded in "waves."
"It wasn't calculated," the comedian said.
Eventually he said he pulled his wife into the saga, asking her
to back up his story that she was working in the south tower on
Sept. 11 as well, when in fact he told Stern that she was
working at the nearby World Financial Center that day, and that
her experience helped influence him to create his own story.
"I know what I did was terrible," Rannazzisi said. "I know that
I hurt a lot of people - people that lost people, people that
helped people survive. And those are the people that I am truly
sorry. I feel awful," he said.
The seventh season of "The League" debuted just before the Times
report, but Rannazzisi said his co-stars stood by him.
"It's out now and I don't have to wait and see what's going to
happen or be cautious anymore," Rannazzisi said on Stern's show,
adding "I don't' have to live with the lie anymore. I'm an
idiot. I made a terrible mistake, but this is not who I am and
I'm going to move on beyond this."
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Steve
Orlofsky)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
|
