Steve Rannazzisi From "The League" Lied About Escaping the World Trade Center On 9/11

Steve Rannazzisi, the guy from the Buffalo Wild Wings commercials that air between daily fantasy ads, lied about surviving the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11, according to a report by the New York Times. Rannazzisi, who plays Kevin on FXX’s “The League,” claimed he was working for Merrill Lynch on the 54th floor of the south tower when the first plane hit. His story for years was that he escaped minutes before the second plane hit the tower he was working in. From NYT:

"Confronted this week, though, with evidence that undermined his account, Mr. Rannazzisi, after a day of deliberation, acknowledged on Tuesday that his account was fiction. Actually, he had been working in Midtown that day, and not for Merrill Lynch, which has no record of his employment and had no offices in either tower. “I was not at the Trade Center on that day,” he said in a statement provided by his publicist, Matthew Labov. “I don’t know why I said this. This was inexcusable. I am truly, truly sorry.”"

Rannazzisi had been telling the story ever since. Here he is talking to Pauly Shore about it in 2010:

More from the New York Times:

" Mr. Rannazzisi had noted in some interviews that his girlfriend also worked in the south tower on Sept. 11 on the 24th floor, but said that she had been delayed and never made it to the building. (Actually, Mr. Rannazzisi got that wrong as well. Mr. Labov said on Tuesday that Mrs. Rannazzisi was scheduled to work as a temp on Sept. 11, but in the World Financial Center, nearby, not in the south tower.) When they both got home, he said on the podcast, they decided they would move to Los Angeles. “We went up to the roof of our building, we smoked a joint and then decided we are going to leave,” he said. "

How in the hell do you make up something like that? Not only was it a complete lie, but it was poorly constructed. Buffalo Wild Wings is currently “re-evaluating” their relationship with Rannazzisi. He currently has a stand-up special scheduled to air on Comedy Central this weekend.