TV star and comedian Steve Rannazzisi has sensationally admitted that he lied about escaping the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Revealing his deception in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday (September 16th), a matter of days after America marked the fourteenth anniversary of the atrocity, the 37 year old stand-up comedian and star of FXX’s ‘The League’ said that he had not been in the Merill Lynch offices in the south tower on that day. Not only had he never worked for them, but Merill Lynch never even had office space there.

“I was not at the Trade Center on that day,” he confessed in a statement via Twitter later on Wednesday. “I don’t know why I said this. This was inexcusable. I am truly, truly sorry.”

Steve RannazzisiSteve Rannazzisi has admitted to lying about being at the World Trade Centers on 9/11

Rannazzisi has said publicly, on more than one occasion in the past, that he was inspired to start his career in comedy in Los Angeles because he was so shaken up by his near-death experience on 9/11. He told Marc Maron in 2009: “I was there and then the first tower got hit and we were like jostled all over the place. I still have dreams of like, you know, those falling dreams.”

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He continued his statement on Twitter: “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?”

2,996 people died, including the 19 hijackers, at the Twin Towers, the attack on the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and the fourth plane which crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. “It was profoundly disrespectful to those who perished and those who lost loved ones,” Rannazzisi’s statement finished. “The stupidity and guilt I have felt for many years has not abated. It was an early taste of having a public persona, and I made a terrible mistake. All I can ask is for forgiveness.”

There's no word yet from FXX, but following this revelation, the actor’s endorsement deal with Buffalo Wild Wings looks to be under threat. The company said in a statement to People: “We are disappointed to learn of Steve’s misrepresentations regarding the events of September 11, 2001. We are currently re-evaluating our relationship with Steve pending a review of all the facts.”

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