Rumor: Morgan Freeman blasts news media shooting coverage
Morgan Freeman blasts news media for coverage of Newtown shooting
UNCONFIRMED
"Morgan neither made statements or posted those statements. We are trying to find out who did, but they did not originate from him," Freeman’s publicist, Stan Rosenfield, told E! News.
The statement blaming the media went viral
On Saturday, a rant blaming the media for sensationalizing the shootings was attributed to Freeman and quickly became a Facebook and Internet sensation, The Wrap reports.
"It’s because of the way the media reports it,” the statement read in part. “Turn on the news and see how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the 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 basement 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.” Read the full statement published by Examiner.com.
Just who did make the statement?
Reddit users pointed to a long Facebook post by "Mark" of Vancouver that is identical to Freeman's "statement,” according to The Inquisitr. “Mark” later commented on his own post, "If I know the Internet, someone will attribute the quote to Morgan Freeman or Betty White and it'll go viral."
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