George Santos claimed he produced Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark for some damn reason
The New York Rep. reportedly told donors he worked as a producer on the Spider-Man musical that couldn't stop breaking its Spider-Men
Aux News George Santos
New York Republican Rep. George Santos has had a, let’s say, complicated relationship with the truth over the course of his recent rise into the national spotlight; his various claims about the events of his life, many of them made during his 2021 run for Congress, are currently the subject of investigations by two different national governments, plus the state of New York. And also, he apparently told people he produced Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the infamously unsuccessful, actor-smashing Broadway flop, for some damn reason. Which he does not appear to have done.
This is per Bloomberg, reporting on allegations that Santos, while running for Congress, told potential donors that he worked as a producer on the play, which ran from 2011 through 2014 in New York, after suffering through one of the longest preview periods in Broadway history. (Also: A concussion, multiple serious leg injuries, and, in the case of one stunt performer, two broken wrists at the same time.) This statement has been contradicted by Michael Cohl, the lead producer on the musical, who denies that Santos was ever involved in the production. (Cohl resisted the urge to point out that this would also make Santos the only person in Broadway history to try to associate their name more with Turn Off The Dark, which ended up closing after losing something like $60 million across its run.) Santos’ name also doesn’t appear, per Bloomberg, in any of the show’s playbills; the publication also notes that, per a Brazilian investigation into check fraud that’s being conducted on Santos, he was living in the South American country for at least part of the show’s run.
And, let’s be clear: Our purview, as a pop culture web site, is not to analyze or evaluate the many, many things that George Santos has said over the last couple of years that people have called out as fundamentally factually deficient. But it’s hard not to be fascinated by this (alleged!) lie, tied as it is to one of the most infamous Broadway flops of the last few decades. Why lie about producing the Spider-Man musical that couldn’t stop breaking its Spider-Men? Were these potential donors members of the Sinister Six? Or just big fans of the Letterman clip where the cast performs “A Freak Like Me Needs Company”? (We can relate.) The single best motivation we can come up with is that being a producer on a Broadway play that everybody’s heard of sounds impressive, and that it’s easier to fake credit on a flop than on a hit—provided that you’re not living the kind of life where everything you say, up to and including, like, your lunch order, has to be run through a fact checker for accuracy at this point.
77 Comments
At this point, why the fuck not?
At this point I’m not sure why he speaks at all, or why reporters ask him stuff.
If you were a reporter, wouldn’t you stick a microphone in his face and ask him stuff? If only to see what crazy ass shit he might claim next? Was he the original host of Jeopardy? Was he quarterback of the Jets? Maybe he was the leading salesman for Amway in ‘88?
I wouldn’t, no. I don’t think there’s much value in asking someone who can’t tell the truth questions.Sure it was funny for a while but like with Trump the joke is old now and it’s time for it to fuck off.Edit: I should probably add that this cunt is my congressman.
I disagree bacuse if he keep going on in this way, he someday may may such an incredible lie that even some Repubs won’t stand by him and/or he will say somthing that will get hinself arrested on the spot.
I disagree bacuse if he keep going on in this way, he someday may may such an incredible lie that even some Repubs won’t stand by himbut we know from experience it will be at most like, four of them.
My condolences…..
Edit: I should probably add that this cunt is my congressman.Bad Kuchi Kopi is to blame! Get him everyone!
What do you mean, “At this point…”? This is a story about something that took place several months ago, before his lies were in newspapers.
So? I stand by my statement. Also I borrowed the phrase from the comment I was replying to.
He’s the old celebrity that every journalist asks their opinion of terrible people on, but a random politician.
Dude is clearly a treasure trove of headlines. On a slow news day, all reporters should be assigned to ask George Santos something.
Ask him how many fingers you’re holding up and he will proudly claim he invented fingers.
LOL!!!!!
Just imagine if he had a whiter complexion – he could claim to be the second coming of Christ with a thick ass dick and GOPers would still prop him up.It’s baffling that it took them until Trump to realize they could have been saying the quiet parts out loud all along. They are saving so much energy by no longer pretending to be people who aren’t complete dog shit.
Well, under the right circumstances, you can make more money with a flop than a hit.
Just don’t make a fool out of Hitler!
I seem to recall a movie and broadway musical and movie of a broadway musical to this theme
He’s yet to mention that his autobiography was the source that George Lucas used for the basis of Star Wars without authorization. It hurts him too much to bring it up, according to friends.
I had NO IDEA Bob Cuccioli was in that show.
Cucci-cucciolo strikes again where you least expect him.
I thought Santos peaked as a drag queen. I was wrong. This is like bragging about being a Rust producer. Why oh why oh why would you ever lie about this.
Because nobody would lie about it. Who would admit to it? Hell, I bet most of the real producers lie and say they had nothing to do with it.
The lady who created it doesn’t want to talk about it and you probably gotta torture Bono to get him to talk about it. What a weird lie to brag about. I helped make the most infamous Broadway failure of the 21st century that was parodied from South Park to Law and Order.
Yes, The L&O: Criminal Intent episode was great. Easily had better writers and actors than ‘’Turn Off The Dreck”…
Yes, this. The bigger and more bizarre the lie, the less likely someone is to question it.
That was my first thought – if you claim you were a producer of Cats, people will ask followup questions. But Spider-Man?
I have follow-up questions. What’s a spider-man and how can it turn off darkness?
Just about the only time Santos seemed to have a glimmer of actual humanity to him is when I learned about him spending time in drag. I mean, he was gay, young, and in Brazil, so why the hell not?
Honest to god same. I genuinely think he looks better and seems like a happier person when playing a queen then a congressmen. Of course it turns out he wasn’t good at that but oh well. He should be on Rupaul.
Well, if his tenure in Congress does nothing else, at least George Santos let Lindsey Graham know that he isn’t alone.
He’s an attention whore and doesn’t care what the basis of that attention is.
He’s the one who told Baldwin not to pull the trigger…..
wasn’t he also the captain of the exxon valdez?
I saw Waterworld, Captain Bob was definitely a different guy! (… as far as we know)
No but he did design Deepwater Horizon.
George Santos: 1990-1992 Planner and Chief Investor, Euro Disney.
I like this, let’s add more things to his resume, but I think the Exxon Valdez is too much of a disaster…it has to be something that is utterly baffling why anyone would say they did it, so instead let’s say he invented crystal pepsi and blue moon, or that he was drafted to play baseball for the Pirates, or that he was a professional hand model
I’d sub in Zima for Blue Moon assuming your talking about the ubiquitous and really popular wheat beer.
He invented the keyboard necktie!
It’s effing brilliant (as far as lying about producing a Broadway play goes).It shuts down so many followup questions, about other plays you’ve done, or where all your money is, but it’s infamous enough that everybody’s heard of it.Most people will politely move on.If you went to a party with a bunch of mid-level Broadway types, which story would you remember?
I generally dislike Broadway productions. They are usually overwrought and too goofy but I regret not seeing the insane mess that was Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. I just don’t know if it would have been more fun seeing it drunk or while tripping.One thing that’s crazier than that show is the guy who calls himself George Santos and the treasonous criminal conspiracy of the republican party that’s forced him on us.
Bway shows are too $$$ to hatewatchI really don’t understand why more videos of bway shows aren’t available…it would definitely help regional theaters and schools decide which to put on. The kid who played spoder-min is in Hadestown on broadway, he has a reaaalllly weird voice and acts like an exaggerated hayseed.
Broadway is the theatrical embodiment of exaggeration. It has not room for subtlety and no patience for nuance.
Yeah, with how advanced the microphones are you’d think people would be more naturalistic these days, but there were a lot of part of Death of a Salesman where Biff and Happy would just suddenly be shouting their lines to manufacture drama…in a show that is plenty dramatic
Our purview, as a pop culture web siteWhen has that ever stopped you before?
I think we should at least acknowledge that sentence was spelled correctly.
I don’t believe in giving credit for achieving the absolute bare minimum.
But it’s the least you could do.
I could do even less!(And I will!)
not to analyse or evaluateThe A.V. Club
He also won a Tony for Scarsdale Surprise.
I’m pretty sure he was the third male lead in Subways are for Sleeping off-off broadway!
“You are a fraud Dr Tarnover. You haven’t even been to Scarsdale.”
Sorry, but that’s no nearly enough of an outrageous lie for the party of Trump.
Good god, Santos is a real life Tommy Flannigan.“Yeah…that’s the ticket.”
Apparently, he’s a movie critic as well.
Where did I go right?
Ok, now I’m actually starting to like him.
He managed to wrangle a producer credit in exchange for them using his likeness as the Green Gobshite
Santos: “It could happen! That’s the ticket!”
“I’ve had lots of jobs: whale hunter, seal clubber, president of the Fox network. And, yeah, like most people, I produced a Spider-Man musical.”
Lies like his are considered serious enough that he would lose tenure if he were on the faculty of a University somewhere (which perhaps he says he is, I don’t know), and yet they are not considered serious enough to get him drummed out of Congress. Makes one think.
theoretically that’s because the people elected him…except here they elected someone else!
Not directly related, but if you have never listened to the “Fiasco” episode of This American Life, I highly recommend it, and I think the actual producers of “Spiderman: Bring on the Dark” would have benefitted from hearing it. The opening story covers an absolutely insane small town production of Peter Pan that goes horribly wrong. It also include the classic “Squirrel Cop” which is perhaps the single funniest 13 minutes of radio in existence.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/699/fiasco
the guys who did “The Play That Goes Wrong” now have “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” set for broadwayamong theater types there are legendary stories of shows going wrong, and often times they are exaggerated to the point where everyone know it couldn’t have happened but everyone loves to repeat them anyway
I’ll have to check that out.
but guys, he said HE LEARNED HIS LESSON, he’ll never do it again!if we find out he broke the law with his campaign fund use I think he can at least be impeached
How many 23-year-olds co-produce Broadway musicals, flops or not?
well, then the next question would be, “but wasn’t that a disaster?” As to direct him into “but why would you admit to that?” I do think he talks to people who don’t listen and like to hear what they want to hear.
Given his mastery of all known martial arts, you might want to think for a moment before slagging off The Santos.
I work with a guy who lies about his life to try to seem more impressive. His mistake was to lie to me about things I’m intimately familiar with. He told me he plays “first chair guitar” for Fleetwood Mac sometimes, which doesn’t even make any sense. That’s just one of his many, many egregious lies. I could write an entire novel out of the bullshit this dude has spewed to me over the years.