You can choose to believe it or not from the man himself:
"Hey ballers, this is Christopher Franchi.
I wanted to take a minute to make sure we were all clear on the events that’s transpired during The Twipys event.
First off, much love and admiration to Zach, Greg and Jeff for a perfectly exectuted, professional show. It was very impressive and I was proud to be a part of it.
So, as far as the “trophy stomp” gag goes, here’s the story.
About a month ago, Zach and I were talking and I thought maybe it’d be a good idea to pull off a little stunt just to spark the audience a bit. Award shows can get a bit dry with the repetition of nominees, winner speech, nominees, winner speech.
So I called up Jeremy (Mr Zombie Yeti) and asked if he was going to Texas. He said no. So I asked if I could accept his award on his behalf. He said “I won??” Well, no one knows the results yet, but c’mon. It was the year of the Yeti. You’re a shoe-in and totally deserve it. I told him about my idea to play a little prank and he loved it. So a plan was set in place.
Jump forward to the night of the awards. Oops, no one told Mike Vinacor, who was accepting all of the Stern awards, that I was to accept on Jeremy’s behalf, so he just bolted up there.
Quick change of script!!
I walked up there, slowly crept up on Mike, hoping he’d stop and ask me what I wanted. Well, he finished his speech. I then quickly grabbed the trophy and started a modified version of the acceptance speech that was planned. To explain the love and admiration we artists have for each other, and that there is no jealousy or dislike between us, but rather a brotherhood. Then I broke down with a moment of silence, started to cry and placed the trophy (stunt trophy, not Jeremy’s actual award) on an angle across the edge of the podium base, and stomped on it, snapping it in half. I picked up the remaining parts and threw them, looked at the crowd and yelled I HATE YOU!! and ran off.
Well, no one told Mike so he was standing on that stage mortified and thought I flipped a nut, which only added the the realism of the joke, for better or worse.
As you can see in Stern photos for that night, the actual trophy was given to Mike after the show and all was well. We smashed a stunt trophy that was secured far in advance.
So some of you got it and enjoyed it, which I’m glad. It was designed to just lighten the mood and give people a laugh, however, my acting skills must be at a higher level than I thought and Mike’s actual horror over what just happened made many think it was real.
To those who didn’t appreciate it, just know that Jeremy gave me his blessing and of course no disrespect was intended. I’m very excited and proud for Jeremy’s well deserved win.
To those who said I’m not a comedian, you’re correct. I tried. If I failed and you didn’t see the humor in it, I offer my apologies. I hope you enjoyed the rest of the show.
Let’s give it up to the man, Zombie Yeti, for an amazing year of beautiful work we all get to enjoy, and to ALL the winners and nominees!
Man, I love pinball!!!
Cheers,
Christopher Franchi"
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/t...a-celebration-of-the-hobby-coming-soon/page/7
