Did a Steelers Fan Just Tweet-Punk the Media?

If a Twitter user is telling the truth, he's managed a pretty epic hoax—taking in media outlets from Sports Illustrated to the AP. At a playoff game on Saturday between the Steelers and the Ravens, Jake Berlin tweeted that he'd run onto the field if his post was retweeted 400 times. He got plenty of retweets, but before he could run onto the field, security had noticed his post and taken him away. At least that's how it was reported, after a later Berlin tweet showed him in what appeared to be a security vehicle. But according to Berlin, the real story is quite different.

On his Twitter feed today is a "press release" reading, "Not everything in the media is true." Berlin, according to the release, is behind an entertainment company called RealBerlin Entertainment. As a promotion for the company, he claims to have staged the whole thing. His plan: "Send the tweet at the right moment to portray a relatable sense of frustration and boredom"—then "go to the First Aid station and pose with a friendly staff member on the paramedic golf cart." He added: "We learned a valuable lesson about the media: If you say something online, it will be repeated … and repeated." CBS Pittsburgh appears to have taken down its story about the (non-)incident, but others remain. (More social media stories.)