Star of “The League” Admits Lies About 9/11 Escape, Declared Not Funny Retroactively

After a New York Times investigation revealed that  his story about fleeing the World Trade Center on 9/11 was not true, Steve Rannazzisi was declared not funny by various television personalities and internet commenters.  Mr. Rannazzisi, best known for his portrayal of Kevin McArthur on the hit FX Sitcom The League, appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast in 2009, where he told Mr. Maron that he got into comedy after escaping from the 54th floor of South Tower where he worked for Merrill Lynch.  As it turns out, Mr. Rannazzisi neither worked for Merrill Lynch nor did he work in the WTC.

Immediately after releasing his statement, Mr. Rannazzisi was derided as someone “who I never found funny anyway” by longtime League viewer butterchucker1985.  Sweetwest3480 said that he would no longer brag about having “front-row center” seats to Mr. Rannazzisi’s Manchild Comedy Central Stand-up Special. “There are some lines you do not cross.  And when I found out  this morning that Kevin lied about being in the World Trade Center in an interview that I hadn’t listened to, on a podcast that I never heard of, I’ve retroactively declared all laughs null and void.”

The fallout has reached far beyond just Mr. Rannazzisi’s personal brand.  Texans Defensive Lineman J.J. Watt released a statement retracting “any jokes or other allegedly humorous content” from his appearance on a 2013 episode of The League. Mr. Watt stated that he now realizes that he was tricked into appearing on what he thought was a “honorable and humorous take on the great American sport of football.”  Mr. Watt has instructed his financial advisers to donate his appearance fee from The League to his JJWatt Foundation, which provides athletic equipment to middle school students.  “I’ve also instructed my legal team to pursue legal action in the producers don’t remove any record of my alleged appearance.  As far as I’m concerned, it never happened.”

Fox & Friends devoted an entire segment to this morning’s show to Mr. Rannazzisi’s endorsement deal with Buffalo Wild Wings.  “It’s not enough that Buffalo Wild Wings makes it’s customers choose from such un-American flavors as Chipotle BBQ, Parmesan Garlic, and Terriyaki.  Now they have the guy who lied about 9/11 appearing in their commercials!” said Elizabeth Hasselbeck.  “You know, Tim was supposed to appear on that disgusting show that I now realize was never funny in the first place, but I’m glad that I can now tell him that I told him not to,” she continued.

Buffalo Wild Wings reacted swiftly, releasing a statement stating that their relationship with Mr. Rannazzisi is now under review.  “We are disappointed that Steve did not tell the truth, and to be perfectly honest, at the time of casting, we really hoped to get Nick Kroll to do the commercials for us, but he was too busy.  Perhaps now we can find an actual funny person to represent our brand.  Do people still like Bill Cosby?

New episodes of The League air Wednesday nights at 10PM on FX, if you’re the type of person who likes unfunny shit and doesn’t care about 9/11.