For more than a decade, comedian Steve Rannazzisi has been repeating a dramatic story about himself. He said that he quit his finance job in New York to pursue comedy after narrowly escaping the World Trade Center on 9/11. Rannazzisi now stars on the popular FX show The League. He has a new special on Comedy Central this Saturday. He’s the face of Buffalo Wild Wings, appearing in commercials. One problem: His 9/11 story isn’t true. Rannazzisi admitted in a statement yesterday that he was NOT at the World Trade Center that day, but working in midtown Manhattan. What motivates these kinds of falsehoods?
Faking Tragedy
Credits
Guest:
- Elizabeth Loftus - Professor of psychology and social behavior at UC Irvine.