William Shatner has debunked a hoax which claimed he would make an appearance to switch on a Cheshire town’s Christmas lights this year.
Frodsham Hoax
Residents of Frodsham were excited to see a series of official tweets on November 24, which included a quote by William Shatner stating that he would appear at this year’s Christmas Festival.
“I’m very excited to be coming to Frodsham. I’ve long been fascinated by the glacial landscape of the Cheshire countryside – its vast plain and sandstone ridges, not unlike some distant planet visited by the crew of the Enterprise! See you there! William Shatner.”
The festival sent out additional tweets announcing Shatner’s appearance, and stated he would also perform Christmas songs from a new album.
Bill will also be singing some songs from his new Christmas album at the switch on! http://t.co/ustartJkT3
— Frodsham Xmas 2014 (@Frodshamxmas) November 24, 2014
Prepare to boldly go to where no Christmas Festival has gone before, this Saturday! pic.twitter.com/pHwAYoRVeq — Frodsham Xmas 2014 (@Frodshamxmas) November 24, 2014
Shatner Responds
The 83-year old actor was quick to fire back, noting “There’s a reason why the word Sham is in the name!”
The village of Frodsham UK is promising I will turn on holiday lights? There’s a reason why the word Sham is in the name! Sorry, not true.????
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) November 25, 2014
In a subsequent tweet, Shatner stated that “I’m sure it was done for some fun.”
Hoax Revealed
While one may suspect that such a hoax would be perpetrated by someone who surreptitiously hacked the festival’s Twitter account, the BBC reports that the tweets were in fact sent out by a “friend” of one of the festival organizers who had access to the account.
Bottom Line
A Christmas Festival in Frodsham sent out a series of tweets announcing William Shatner as this year’s special guest who would switch on the Christmas lights. The announcement turned out to be a hoax, and Shatner personally responded that it was “not true.”