Over the weekend, while peacefully scrolling Twitter, I came across this absolutely baffling yarn about someone impersonating Lili Reinhart in interviews. Strap in.
This all came to light on Saturday after Seventeen Magazine released an apology to Reinhart for publishing a story with the fake Reinhart. It goes without saying that Seventeen is a pretty huge magazine, so the fact that the impersonator made it all the way to being published is just bloody wild.
“Today, we briefly published a story with information we were led to believe was from Lili Reinhart,” the magazine shared in a statement on Twitter.
“However, it was brought to our attention that the person who contacted us was, in fact, an impersonator and had no connection to the Riverdale star. We want to sincerely apologise to Lili and her fans for this unfortunate situation.”
— Seventeen (@seventeen) January 22, 2021
I just – ?????
Naturally, Seventeen said it would be reviewing its editorial and fact-checking process to make sure this never happens again.
Reinhart, the real one, shared Seventeen’s statement to her Instagram story and confirmed she had not spoken to the magazine for an interview.
“For some bizarre reason, someone impersonated me in an interview with @seventeen,” she wrote.
“Nothing inappropriate was said. But those were not my words and I wanted to address it.”
Again – ?????
Seventeen magazine issues apology after publishing an interview with someone pretending to be Lili Reinhart:
“the person who contacted us was, in fact, an impersonator and had no connection to the Riverdale star.” pic.twitter.com/UrIX6Ux6Q5
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 23, 2021
But wait, there’s more.
Seventeen wasn’t the only publication deceived, because The Daily Express reporter Lucas Hill-Paul tweeted that he had also been bamboozled by the impersonator.
“It’s been brought to my attention that the interview I shared with Lili Reinhart was fake, and someone has been impersonating Lili and her publicist,” Hill-Paul tweeted.
“Obviously, I’m embarrassed and quite disturbed, and sincerely apologise to anyone who was misled by the article.”
It’s been brought to my attention that the interview I shared with Lili Reinhart was fake, and someone has been impersonating Lili and her publicist. Obviously, I’m embarrassed and quite disturbed, and sincerely apologise to anyone who was misled by the article.
— Lucas Hill-Paul (@lucashpaul) January 23, 2021
While both articles have been wiped from the internet, the Daily Express’ original social media post is still live on Twitter. By the looks of it, the impersonator spent the interview discussing Riverdale season 5.
#Riverdale EXCLUSIVE: Lili Reinhart opens up on Betty’s ‘alternate personality’ in season 5 time jump #RiverdaleSeason5 https://t.co/diu2Oc7ykz
— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) January 22, 2021
The really bizarre part of this entire chapter for me is that the impersonator didn’t say anything “inappropriate”, they really just pretended to be Reinhart in two separate interviews about Riverdale. Creepy, creepy, creepy.
I guess they must be a Riverdale fan, right?
Also, I have so many other questions: how was the interview conducted? Was it over the phone? Did the impersonator mimic Reinhart’s voice? What happens now? Do we just wait until they strike again?
As it stands, the identity of the person pretending to be Reinhart and her publicist remains a mystery.
