Candidate apologises to Morgan Freeman over campaign ad

A North Carolina congressional candidate apologised to Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman after falsely claiming the actor had done a voice-over for a campaign ad.

Republican B.J. Lawson’s campaign blamed a political consulting firm for duping it into believing Freeman did the ad.

“This is terribly unfortunate and we apologise profusely to Morgan Freeman for what has happened,” Mr Lawson said.

“This is obviously not something we ever would want to misrepresent.”

Mr Lawson’s campaign said earlier that Freeman had done the narration for an advertisement posted online that attacked the Democratic incumbent, Representative David Price.

Freeman then issued a statement through his publicist that no one representing him had ever authorised the use of his name, voice or likeness in support of Mr Lawson.

“These people are lying,” Freeman said. “I have never recorded any campaign ads for B.J. Lawson, and I do not support his candidacy.”

The 30-second clip features a voice that sounds like Freeman’s. It concludes: “It’s time that you and I had a voice in Washington. Vote B.J. Lawson for Congress.”

The ad has since been pulled from Lawson’s website.

Lawson, who built his campaign with the support of conservative tea party activists, is running against Mr Price in North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, which covers the Durham-Chapel Hill area and has a large bloc of black voters.

Before Mr Lawson’s apology, Mr Price said he thought Mr Lawson’s claim was deceptive and reckless.

“I just can’t imagine that a responsible candidate or a responsible person would do this sort of thing,” the politician said.