Who would have thought that one of the most popular celebrities on Facebook would be George Takei, the actor best known for his role as Mr. Sulu in Star Trek? His page is liked by over 4.1 million, who all love to get a laugh out of the quirky jokes and memes he posts every day. But it turns out that not all those jokes were written by the actor and a ghostwriter who pulled back the curtain is apologizing for ruining the fun.
On June 6, out-of-work journalist Rick Polito spoke with Jim Romenesko, who sought to interview Polito after a bizarre (but true) summary of The Wizard of Oz he wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer went viral. In the interview, Polito revealed that he had become a ghostwriter for Takei.
“Even at $10 a joke it still feels like a validation to see so many people reacting to my humor,” Polito said. “I have written jokes that got 10 likes per second for hours. The power of George is unbelievable. His fans are a viral army. He may not be a stockholder, but he owns Facebook.”
Polito’s comments went viral as well and many were disappointed to learn that Takei has someone helping him come up with all that great content. According to Mashable, Polito spoke with Romanesko again and apologized to Takei and his husband Brad.
“I wrote an apology to George and Brad and their guy said he’d pass it on. I just said that I’d been looking for any mention of my book I could get and that I hadn’t meant to expose anything,” Polito said. “I don’t update his page. I’ve had no direct contact with George. I’ve sent him some memes, as have other comedian types and I was happy for the exposure.”
Takei spoke with Wired and he didn’t seemed too annoyed with Polito. After all, in Oh Myyy, Takei revealed that he has “George Fakei” helpers on Facebook.
“What is this hoo-ha about my FB posts?” Takei wrote. “I have Brad, my husband, to help me and interns to assist. What is important is the reliability of my posts being there to greet my fans with a smile or a giggle every morning. That’s how we keep on growing.”
image: Facebook