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In November of 2001, still just two months after the attacks, José Roberto Penteado, a Brazilian businessman, claimed credit for the photos:
Photo Credit: E-Farsas
He totally looked like the dude in the photo, so people believed him.
He somehow nearly bargained his newfound infamy into a commercial for Volkswagen, but VW changed their mind – perhaps deciding they shouldn’t piggy-back off of a 9/11 related photo-hoax.
However, just a few weeks later, Peter Guzli came forward with definitive proof – other photographs of himself on that day:
Photo Credit: Peter Guzli/Wired
“November 28, 1997,” the photo says. Now the coat makes sense.
He’s also the guy that created the hoax photograph, which totally makes him seem like a bit of a royal dick.
Photo Credit: Peter Guzli/Wired
But it turns out that this all started out as a private joke that Guzli sent by email to some friends.
Some dark humor, perhaps, during a time when most of our heads were still spinning from this massive event.
Photo Credit: E-Farsas
This was before Facebook AND MySpace, so it should have ended right there.
But his friends started sharing the pic, and one thing led to a few million.
He told Wired in 2001, “This was a joke meant for my friends, not such a wide audience.”
He withheld his last name in that interview, unlike Penteado, who seemed ready for any and all attention he could get before the truth came out.
Guzli released a public apology in 2011, just before the 10th anniversary of the attacks (translated from Hungarian):
“I assumed my friends would recognize me and call me to see if I was alright, but they posted it on to other friends and suddenly it was all over the world. … I didn’t really stop to consider the consequences and never thought it would go outside of my small circle of friends. … I wish you would end this story. I want people to know that I’m sorry, and I hope this can be the end of the ‘Tourist Guy’ story.”
We can question his judgment, using 9/11 to get a couple of gasps and giggles from his friends, but maybe we can also understand how a small, private joke might turn into a large controversy. He certainly wasn’t the last person to send a photo that blew up way past what he intended.
