A phony statement attributed to Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman circulated among social media sites yesterday that condemned the way mass media glorifies mass-murderers, referring to purported shooter Adam Lanza from last Friday’s Sandy Hook Elementary shooting.
The statement reads: “Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single ‘victim’ of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he’ll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody…So congratulations, sensationalist media, you’ve just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or maternity ward next.”
However, a representative for Freeman has confirmed that the statement did not come from the Dark Knight Rises star, according to TheWrapp. Stan Rosenfield, Freeman’s representative, says that the actor’s publicists are working to determine how the statement became attached to Freeman.
“Couple of us thought it’d be funny, since it was a well written article, to attribute it to Morgan Freeman. Day Later, Reddit Front Page. Bravo, Internet,” Quintilian 751 posted.
Mark later responded after realizing his post spread across various social media sites:
“If I know the Internet, someone will attribute the quote to Morgan Freeman or Betty White and it’ll go viral. OH GOD IT’S ALREADY HAPPENING.”
Follow Brittany Tom on Twitter @brittanyrtom