Sean Hannity Assures Viewers He'll Still Be Eating At Olive Garden
And now for some cheesy comic relief from Sean Hannity, who on Friday passionately shot down a “menacing” “fake news” report of the unthinkable: That he’s no longer welcome at Olive Garden.
“I love Olive Garden,” said Hannity, discussing the restaurant with the same fervor he uses to tout QAnon conspiracy theories. It would be a “sad day” if he were ever prohibited from eating there, he added.
Hannity was referring to a joke on Twitter that claimed that Olive Garden had rescinded his pasta pass as punishment for supporting the mob that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.
The parody announcement said that Olive Garden was revoking its “Never Ending Pasta Pass for several guests” who attacked the Capitol — and its “Lifetime Pasta Pass from Sean Hannity.”
Hannity carefully explained that he doesn’t have a pass and that he’ll still be eating at Olive Garden.
A spokesperson for the restaurant clarified in a statement to The Wrap that the tweet was fake and was “not issued by Olive Garden.”
Artist Louie Mantia Jr. admitted he created the message as a joke and has since taken it down.
This morning I made a “social media statement”-style joke image as if it had come from Olive Garden, and I want to talk about why I made it and why I deleted it.
Just so I’m abundantly clear: it’s not a real statement. pic.twitter.com/hTf2ymub5P— Louie Mantia, Jr. (@Mantia) January 8, 2021
Two days ago, Anderson Cooper said those who attacked the Capitol would be returning to Olive Garden and Holiday Inn.
And then, Sean Hannity spent time on his show talking about how much he loves Olive Garden.
These things actually happened. It’s ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/uUa1HnFExI— Louie Mantia, Jr. (@Mantia) January 8, 2021
Here’s the full goof statement Mantia posted:
Mantia was inspired after Hannity on Thursday attacked CNN’s Anderson Cooper for disdainfully musing that members of the Capitol mob went to Olive Garden to celebrate after the attack.
“Let me give a plug for Olive Garden. I like Olive Garden,” Hannity said afterward before veering into a shameless ad for the place.
Twitter critics couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing coming out of Hannity’s mouth, but that’s not so very different from a typical night.
Is this a real thing?
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) January 9, 2021
Please tell me this is a deep fake so my brain doesn’t explode
— punished tom (@tomburns) January 9, 2021
what the fuck did i just watch
— rat king (@MikeIsaac) January 9, 2021
"Alexa...show me the most desperate video on the internet today"
— WhatIfBarackOrHillarySaidIt 🎉TRUMP IS BANNED🎉 (@IfBarack) January 9, 2021
The world is so weird right now
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) January 9, 2021
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.