Buffalo Wild Wings, the sports bar restaurant chain that featured comedian Steve Rannazzisi in commercials, said that it will no longer feature The League star. It was revealed earlier this week that Rannazzisi repeatedly lied about surviving the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Rannazzisi told The New York Times on Wednesday that he lied about working for Merrill Lynch on 9/11 and being in the south tower as the planes hit. He claimed that he managed to get out of the tower just before it was struck and then decided to move to Los Angeles to become an entertainer. It was a story he told several times in interviews.
The comedian appeared in recent Buffalo Wild Wings commercials, but a spokeswoman told CBS News that they will stop airing them immediately.
“Upon careful review, we have decided to discontinue airing our current television commercials featuring Steve Rannazzisi,” a spokeswoman said.
Comedy Central is also scheduled to air Rannazzisi’s new comedy special, but told Deadline Wednesday that they are considering pulling the show.
Rannazzisi is currently working on the final season of The League. In his apology statement, he said that he hoped the story would just go away.
“I don’t know why I said this. This was inexcusable. I am truly, truly sorry,,” the comedian said. “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?”
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