A representative for Morgan Freeman says that a statement attributed to the actor regarding the Newtown, Conn., shooting is a hoax.
On Saturday, a statement about the Connecticut school shooting linked to Freeman began circulating on Facebook and Twitter, TheWrap reports. In the statement, the media's coverage of the shooting is criticized.
"It’s because of the way the media reports it,” reads the fake statement attributed to Freeman. “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?" The controversial statement concludes, “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, Freeman had nothing to do with the hoax response. A representative for the actor told HuffPost that the statement was not written by the actor.
Publicist Stan Rosenfield told TheWrap that Freeman’s camp is attempting to determine how the hoax started.
Reddit users later revealed the alleged author of the Freeman hoax as a man named Mark from Vancouver. "Couple of us thought it'd be funny, since it was a well written article, to attribute it to Morgan Freeman," one reddit user wrote on the Freeman thread. "Day Later, Reddit Front Page. Bravo, Internet."
Other celebrities did react publicly to the Newtown school shooting.
Director Michael Moore demanded change. "The way to honor these dead children is to demand strict gun control, free mental health care, and an end to violence as public policy," he tweeted. Adding, "Too soon to speak out about a gun-crazy nation? No, too late. At least THIRTY-ONE school shootings since Columbine."
Alec Baldwin seconded that emotion: "One storm after another.... #GunControlNow."
"Just yesterday, I wrote about the joy of becoming a mother," tweeted Maria Shriver. "Right now so many mothers and fathers are in indescribable pain."