Celebs Caught on Tape
Was Griffin's Crash a Hoax?

Click to return to TMZ.comTMZ is just askin' ... what's wrong with this picture?

Eddie Griffin's ultra-expensive crash in a $1.5 million Ferrari Enzo has been all over television and the Internet today, but could the pricey wipeout really be a brilliant marketing ploy?

In the video obtained by CBS2 News in Los Angeles, it shows the car slamming into a concrete barricade. But, to quote Dr. Henry Lee from the O.J. Simpson case, "Something wrong."

Roll the video and take a close look at the guy standing next to the concrete barrier. He doesn't even flinch as the car comes near. Also, it's pretty interesting that after the crash, Griffin joked it up, saying, "Undercover Brother's good at karate and all the rest of that, but the brother can't drive."

This isn't the first time that one of Daniel Sadek's high-priced cars have been wrecked. During production of his movie, "Redline," two of the producer/real estate investor's expensive Porsche Carrera GTs were totaled during filming. One of the collisions was designed as a stunt. The other was an accident.

UPDATE:
Eddie Griffin's publicist, Lori Jonas, told TMZ, "It was not a hoax. Eddie was racing for a charity to promote his upcoming film, "Redline." He got in an accident. He is suffering from neck and shoulder pain as a result of the accident. It was in no way a hoax."

Reader Comments

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61. How about this comment, Who cares!

Posted at 4:00PM on Mar 29th 2007 by Mike

62. This is the same scheme that Lynxton Music Group did to promote Ludacris and the fast & furious movie.

Plus, they were the first to put this video out.

Posted at 2:38PM on Apr 1st 2007 by Nadia

63. everything out of hollywood or the music biz is publicity stunts - they're desperate because the free downloads of movies and music is avail even before the movie or music is released. Anyone can buy perfect quality DVDs and CDS for $5 to $10. Thank God for the internet!! Hollywood idiots should wake the F... up and stop paying these morons beyond scale which is all they are worth.

Posted at 5:42PM on Mar 29th 2007 by one and only clyde

64. I can't believe that the photographer/man on the other side of the concrete barrier wouldn't have run away if it were not a hoax. And if you crash a care like that you would probably set yourself on fire.

Posted at 7:19PM on Mar 29th 2007 by Rick

65. The guy standing behind the barrier doesn't even flinch. He either knows what to expect, or he's digitally added to the scene. Smells fishy to me.

Posted at 6:44PM on Mar 29th 2007 by Janet

66. It looks real to me, tires are definately turned and sliding, going very fast too far to the outside of the turn, Mr. Griffin was probably not very familiar with this vehicle and a car this powerful can definately jump up and bite you!
I would estimate that less than 1% of the worlds population could handle a vehicle of such power in a race type situation, even race car drivers find themselves pushing high performance vehicles too far, I know who Eddie Griffin is, have enjoyed some of his films (Loved Undercover Brother!) he is a very funny actor, I do however question the guy who let's people play with a $1.5 million dallar car (I read on MSN that the car was totalled, I disagree, it was heavily damaged but definately not totalled) for publicity, certainly, a hoax, I doubt it.

As for the #1 and 12 comments, hey you will never change a rednecks thinking only his daddy could do that, if he knew who he was, and I would bet that Mr. Griffin has a much nicer car than the redneck!

Posted at 9:15PM on Mar 29th 2007 by Ron

67.
Whether or not it was real, fake, publicity stunt, whatever....
Eddie can't drive.....end of story.....
He looks stupid driving the car, and looks twice as stupid standing there afterwards....
Just give him a Yugo with a full seat harness and roll cage, and send him on his way....

Posted at 11:10AM on Apr 11th 2007 by RonaldusMagnus

68. This is NOT fake. TMZ has it all wrong. Go to CNN.com and they have another angle where you can clearly see this guy jump back. TMZ.com is full of crap. No wonder I hate this site. I only came here because of a link from another site.

Posted at 5:23AM on Mar 30th 2007 by Seth707

69. Is it just me or does it seem like the car was going in the wrong direction from the get-go? And who says it was worth 1.2 mil in the first place? Seems like good publicity for a bad movie...look how much they already saved on commercials!!

Posted at 9:30AM on Mar 30th 2007 by Donatella

70. Seems to me a car "worth $1.5 million" wouldn't be made of plastic....come on, that's all fiberglass looks like AND sounds like when it's broken.
Also it seems to me that if I were driving toward a barricade with person (Have my doubts that person's picture wasn't added later since as many others have said, he didn't even flinch) behind the barricade, I would try to brake or at least try to turn the wheels away from the barricade...
But that's just my opinion.

Posted at 10:13AM on Mar 30th 2007 by Non-driver, but....

71. As fast as the car is, it also has brakes that could stop on a dime!

Posted at 11:27AM on Mar 30th 2007 by wb

72. If inappropriate comments are removed, then WHY is comment #12, with its glaring racial ignorance, still on the list of legitimate comments?
I thought it was a hoax the first time I saw it. Not sure if the 'observer' was added or not, but MY butt would have jumped out of the way!

Posted at 3:20PM on Mar 30th 2007 by JoeVDO

73. No one in the right mind would risk crashing a car head on into concrete wall risking severe irreversible injuries as a promotion. If he did… it’s sad how desperate and moronic he is, I would send him money and start a charity organization on his behalf.

Posted at 1:50PM on Mar 30th 2007 by Val

74. I bet the guys at Ferrari are just thrilled that thier $1.5 million dollar car can't make a simple turn on a closed course between rubber pylons. Seems to me that these cars are more famous for crashing than driving. Ouch!

Posted at 2:44PM on Mar 30th 2007 by John

75. I've been on the racetrack before and stood at the barriers when cars have hit them. Those concrete saftey barriers are designed in a particular way so cars are directed upwards but don't flip. That guy standing there is probably a regular at the track and knew the barriers would work fine.

The car will most likely go back to italy for reconstruction. If he wrecks a 1.5mil car and has half a mil work done to it, but gets tons of publicity for it, a viral campaign like this is still cheaper than running TV ads.

Posted at 10:22PM on Mar 30th 2007 by WT

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