“All right, you primitive screwheads! You see this? This is my autograph!” Or is it? Bruce Campbell gave some fans some not-so-groovy news over the weekend after they tried showing off an autograph from Ash himself.
On Saturday, a pair of horror fans that go by Frightful Film Fiends on social media posted a photo of the cast of Ash vs Evil Dead that also purported to hold autographs from Bruce Campbell, Ray Santiago (Pablo Simon Bolivar) and Dana DeLorenzo (Kelly Maxwell). They enthusiastically captioned the photo on Twitter: “We have finally received this wonderful image from one of my favorite shows of all time – Ash vs Evil Dead! Complete with full signatures from the one & only ghostbeaters themselves @GroovyBruce @ImDanaDeLorenzo & @RealRaySantiago ! Thanks guys! You all are pretty groovy!”
Unfortunately, at least one of the signatures was forged, and for Bruce Campbell, the phony autograph was easier to spot than his Evil Dead Rise cameo. Along with pointing it out to the fans, he also offered some useful advice: “Hate to burst the ol’ bubble, but that doesn’t look like my sig. I know my squiggle. In-person always works best.” Hail to the king, baby!
While Bruce Campbell confirmed that his “Ash” autograph was the work of a con artist, some Twitter users pointed out that the John Hancocks of Santiago and DeLorenzo might also be fake, while plenty are also sharing their own authentic signed photos. This is definitely a drag of a situation for the fans but also should serve as a warning to be cautious about buying such merchandise online or in stores, even if it did come with a certificate of authenticity as that’s certainly easy enough to fake as well. One approach some employ–more so if they plan to sell the item down the road–is to take a photo of the celebrity actually signing the merch as proof. At this point, a happy ending would find Campbell sending the trio a real autograph.
Although Ash v Evil Dead was axed after three seasons, Campbell says there is a strong possibility for an animated series in the future.
Have you ever bought a fake autograph by accident? Tell us your story in the comments section below, Mister Fancy-Pants!