You may have seen Glen Powell recently on the Therapuss Podcast sharing a harrowing story about the time his sister’s friend once went on a date with a cannibal.
You may have watched it and thought to yourself, “Hmm, this story of creepy back rubs, black market lotion that breaks down skin for human consumption, and a police raid that uncovers a whole bunch of bodies sounds pretty ridiculous and fake — but, you know what? The man telling it is the impossibly hot, charismatic, and talented Movie Star that 21st-century Hollywood has desperately needed for years. And he sure seems to believe it’s a real story, so…”
Well, obviously, it was not a real story, and it seems like Powell — bless his heart — just learned it’s not a real story himself. On Twitter Monday night, the Hit Man star shared a Buzzfeed article fact-checking the tall tale and copped to the mistake, “Props to my little sister’s friend who told her this dating story…I’ve been telling this for years. I’m questioning my whole life now… False alarm.”
He then added, for all those who were worried: “Back rubs are back.”
According to Snopes, the story Powell told is a kind of offshoot of a “years-old urban legend” known as, “Romantic Encounter with a Necrophiliac.” Snopes first reported on the story back in 2001, and many of those earlier iterations involved a woman going to a doctor for a genital rash and eventually learning that it had been caused by either a type of worm or bacteria commonly found in dead bodies — meaning, the person she’d been sleeping with, had also been… well, you get the idea. (The cannibal variation apparently emerged around 2009 and typically involved a spring break encounter gone horribly wrong.)
As for Powell, of all the dumb “lies” a celebrity can get caught up in these days, this is obviously the best kind — incredibly stupid and completely harmless. Glen Powell remains undefeated. Go watch Hit Man!
