Mark Wahlberg implies he could have influenced 9/11
In trying to sound tough, actor Mark Wahlberg manages to sound a bit ridiculous in the new issue of Men’s Journal. Mentioning that he’d been booked on one of the flights that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11 – he canceled a few days before – Walhberg says he would have taken on the terrorists. “If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn’t have went down like it did,’’ he says in the mag. “There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, ‘OK, we’re going to land somewhere safely, don’t worry.’’’ Predictably, the comments have been met with ridicule on Twitter. But comedian Rob Delaney came to Wahlberg’s defense, tweeting: “Why are people acting like it’s weird that Marky Mark said he’d have stopped 9/11. Of course he would have! Are you blind?’’ (A few minutes later, Delaney tweeted: “Maroon 5 would’ve stopped the Bhopal disaster.’’) TMZ, which had posted Wahlberg’s remarks online, contacted a widow of one of a passenger who died on 9/11’s Flight 93 and she called the comments “disrespectful.’’ “Does Mark Wahlberg have a pilot’s license?’’ said Deena Burnett-Bailey, whose husband Thomas Burnett was on plane that crashed in Shanksville, Pa. “Then I think hindsight is 20/20 and it’s insignificant to say what you would have done if you weren’t there.’’ Knowing a PR disaster when he sees one, Wahlberg apologized today. “To suggest I would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible,’’ he told TMZ. “To speculate about such a situation is ridiculous to begin with. I deeply apologize to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention.’’
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