After Viral Hoax, Olive Garden Forced to Clarify That No, They Did Not Revoke Sean Hannity’s Lifetime Pasta Pass

No, Olive Garden did not revoke Fox News host Sean Hannity’s “lifetime pasta pass,” instead he was the victim of a hoax statement that went viral on Twitter on Friday.

The viral post touting Hannity’s carb cancellation spread quickly after an image was posted by artist Louie Mantia Jr., which he has since deleted.

“This morning I made a ‘social media statement’-style joke image as if it had come from Olive Garden, and I want to talk about why I made it and why I deleted it,” Mantia later clarified on Friday.

This morning I made a “social media statement”-style joke image as if it had come from Olive Garden, and I want to talk about why I made it and why I deleted it.

Just so I’m abundantly clear: it’s not a real statement. pic.twitter.com/hTf2ymub5P

— Louie Mantia, Jr. (@Mantia) January 8, 2021

To add, in a statement to The Wrap on Friday, an Olive Garden spokesperson reiterated that the claim, which was professionally rendered to mimic a real public relations statement, was false.

“The tweet you’re referring to is fake. It was not issued by Olive Garden,” the franchise’s spokesperson told The Wrap.

The fake news of Hannity’s pasta pass being revoked stems from a continued cable news controversy that started after CNN host Anderson Cooper mocked pro-Trump vigilantes who stormed the Capitol for over potentially going back to an Olive Garden to eat following their insurrectionist conduct on Wednesday.