Mashable

Entertainment

Patton Oswalt Stirs Up More Empty Outrage With Fake Apology Tweets

Patton.oswalt
Patton Oswalt onstage at The Shrine Auditorium on April 5.
Image: Joe Scarnici
Jld.400
By Josh Dickey

Patton Oswalt is trolling the Twitter trolls once again — and some are totally falling for it, of course.

The comedian, writer, actor and social media provocateur posted a series of tweets on Wednesday apologizing for offensive “deleted” tweets — that he never actually sent in the first place.

SEE ALSO: Patton Oswalt's Fake TED Talk Is Pure Nonsensical Inspiration

It started just before 1 p.m. ET, with this:

There never was a tweet about seniors or sufferers of Lyme disease, so you can stop looking. Many folks seemed confused — he got a few earnest replies to the tweet — then immediately followed up with:

 

Then he got on a roll:

 

 

(That one got a response that Oswalt retweeted):

And he kept on going:

 

Apparently wrapping things up with the ultimate don't-go-there troll bait:

 

There are deep layers of nuance to Oswald’s Twitter gambits. Of course, deep down, he doesn’t want people to actually be morally outraged over nothing. But by drawing them out, he makes an example of them, the result being both brilliant social commentary — and plain old humor.

To be fair, some people seemed to get it.

Oswalt has pulled this kind of stunt before. In August, he sent a series of two-part tweets that, when taken together, read like harmless, politically correct social commentary. But taken separately, some read shockingly offensive — on purpose, mind you — and an alarming number of people took the out-of-context bait. An example:

 

 

Point is, Oswalt wants us to be less outraged, so he’s stirring up outrage to make that point. He’s trolling Twitter trolls as a way of trolling Twitter trolling.

Troll on, troll troller.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Load Comments

More in Entertainment

The New Stuff

The Next Big Thing

What's Hot

Mashable is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 34 million unique visitors worldwide and 15 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.
  • ©2005-2014 Mashable, Inc.
  • Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved.
  • Designed in collaboration with Code & Theory