As if getting bludgeoned 40-3 at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys wasn’t embarrassing enough, one unfortunate stadium jumbotron operator took the Minnesota Vikings’ humiliation a step further by falling for a faux “Salute to Service” photo featuring a porn star.
Steven Wolfe, better known by his stage name Johnny Sins, has portrayed myriad professions throughout his adult film career. In one particular film, the 43-year-old donned fatigues to play a service member. The resulting imagery — Johnny in outdated camouflage bearing no name tape — has been deployed in the years since to trick popular personalities into “thank you for your service” gaffes.
The U.S. Bank Stadium jumbotron operator is the latest to fall victim, sharing one Twitter user’s erroneous well wishes on the stadium’s big screen for all to see.
“We’re honoring our nation’s service members, veterans, and their families during Sunday’s game against Dallas,” the official Vikings account wrote in the days leading up to Sunday’s game. “Share photos and stories of your loved ones who have served or are currently serving using #SkolSalute for a chance to have them featured on the video board Sunday.”
“This is my cousin Joel who served in the Army,” Twitter user @kylerulz4h wrote. “He has always been an inspiration and someone I look up to for his heroism. He is also a HUGE Vikes fan #skolsalute.”
Responses were swift, including one from the featured actor, who wrote, “Ha! that’s awesome!“
Others celebrated the renaissance man’s round-up of professions he has taken on throughout his extensive filmography.
“Pizza delivery guy, cable guy, plumber, police officer, fireman, this list goes on and on,” one user wrote in response to another who called the actor a “jack of all trades.”
Sunday’s incident, meanwhile, is certainly not isolated. Tricking others into thanking fictional or undeserving individuals has become a popular endeavor by some looking to embarrass high-profile personalities.
In 2021, The Intercept reporter Ken Klippenstein tricked Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz into sharing a photo on Memorial Day of a person Klippenstein claimed was his grandfather.
“Congressman, my grandpa’s a big fan of yours and is a veteran, he would be thrilled if you could RT this photo of him for Memorial Day,” Klippenstein wrote over a photo of John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. “Here he is as a young Private First Class.”
Gaetz later shared the tweet with an American flag emoji, which he has since deleted.
J.D. Simkins is the executive editor of Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.
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