Many of us can remember that awful day 9/11, when we as a country were attacked by zealots in the name of religion. More than 3,000 people died including 400 firefighters, police officers and paramedics. Nothing about that day was happy. There were amazing and heroic stories to be sure, but there was nothing to laugh about.
The opportunists
In light of the 9/11 tragedy, a great deal of money was raised by the American Red Cross and many other legitimate organizations to support the thousands of spouses and children of those killed that day. It was America at its best. America at its worst? The opportunists, such as those who created fake charities to milk money from good-natured people who wanted to do the right thing.
It has been 14 years and I hoped that we were beyond it all – at least the unethical part. However I note that bad stories still pop up from time to time.
In an article appearing on eonline by Kendall Fisher entitled: The League Actor Steve Rannazzisi Comes Clean: My 9/11 Escape Story ”Wasn’t True,” we meet a man who decided to lie, profited by the lie and is now having to scrub his image.
“Loading…Steve Rannazzisi…attributed (his) achievements to the decisions he made following a narrow escape from the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Throughout his rise to fame and up until just a few years ago, the 37-year-old actor told and re-told several publications that he was working at the Merrill Lynch offices on the 54th floor of the south tower when he saw the first plane strike the north tower.”
Trouble is, it never happened. Though he described his experience in in the WTC tower in vibrant and terrifying, he was not there. He used the tragedy to help him elevate his career.
He talked of the fact that after his narrow escape, he and his girlfriend – eventually his wife, moved to Hollywood after re-evaluating their lives.
Though it may have taken 14 years, he was caught in a lie. He apologized on Twitter, in my opinion, the way out of many a chicken and weak-willed person.
“As a young man, I made a mistake that I deeply regret and for which apologies may still not be enough. After I moved with my wife to Los Angeles from New York City in 2001 shortly after 9/11, I told people that I was in one of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. It wasn’t true. I was in Manhattan but working in a building in midtown and I was not at the Trade Center on that day.”
He continued:
“It is to the victims of 9/11 and to the people that love them—and the people that love me—that I ask for forgiveness…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.”
Is it enough?
The heart and soul of what I teach is that people who have learned from the consequences of their actions deserve a second chance. If a person robs a convenience store and is imprisoned, and if he or she fully learns and understands where their actions have led, they are indeed deserving of a second chance. What about a person who is a habitual liar or who keeps robbing convenience stores, for that matter?
In Rannazzisi’s long-winded Twitter apology, he admitted he didn’t tell the lie once, he repeated it over and over – it became part of his platform in front of the media. I cannot imagine that other people who were around him didn’t know. His wife, for example, was there with him. She watched the lie perpetrated for quite some time.
I did a bit of research. Rannazzisi’s hit show. The League, has 92 percent of its audience composed of Millennial’s. On 9/11 most of his audience had barely finished grammar school. They remember little of 9/11. If the comedian was getting caught in a lie, now would be the perfect time to plead for forgiveness.
As his career was gaining momentum about 2005, why didn’t he admit to the lie back then? It is difficult to not believe he was advised against it. While his apology was touching, I am not buying into its sincerity.
What I believe about him matters little in the overall scheme of things. There is nothing he can do to make amends, and no one is asking him to do so. To my mind it comes down to reputation.
Imagine if Steve Rannazzisi was your co-worker or someone you just hired, who had lied for 14 years about doing something heroic he did not do. One day, he casually apologizes and asks for forgiveness. You nod, you say “It’s OK,” but would you ever fully trust him again?
Every choice has a consequence!
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!
The darker side of me wants his career ruined. He lied to get to the top and it worked, but he “feels bad” now and wants to clear his conscience….. yeah ok i get it. Still it was a risky move. he could have admitted it only to his family, talked with a therapist and just never mention it again and refuse to talk about it. that’s probably what another dweeb would have done. Also, is anyone of the belief that no one ever lies to further their career? Of course not! I think the good side of me says to let it go, don’t hold it against him and move on. And though that may feel foreign it really is the right thing to do. We condemn one another way too much in this country; standing at the ready to crucify one misstep. Are we really that pure or do we secretly enjoy watching someone fall who has more than we do? And your statement about the robber, sadly is not accurate. We stopped giving convicted criminals second chances and ceased believing apologies years ago. People who think that we give those charged with a crime a second chance obviously have never experienced living life in the U.S. with a felony on their record or on the record of a loved one. It’s pretty brutal and unforgiving and lasts for the rest of their lives. We’ve somehow convinced ourselves that all crime can be prevented by doing background checks so there is no hiding your mistake once it’s out there. It affects getting a job, renting an apartment, buying a house, working at your kid’s school as a volunteer and even adopting a dog!! Once you’re convicted of a crime, regardless of what it is, you’re done with mainstream America. It’s over. And that’s wrong. All of us make mistakes and whether or not those mistakes become public, we should be more willing to forgive and give a guy a second chance – especially if he’s honestly remorseful.
RPS…sorry but you are wrong about one thing: It is not over and second chances abound – as a VP in a public company and a convicted felon I know that, while you can’t escape your past, you can rise above it and better choices will be rewarded. What in your mind you believe and conceive you can achieve. If you believe that it’s hopeless then that is exactly what you’ll get. I don’t believe that and I’m living in hope and living that truth daily. Feel free to call me if you would like to talk – 828.244.1400.