News

Wait... Kirstie Alley Plead Guilty To Bridgegate?

by Alicia Lu

This is what happens when we read the news before having coffee. On Friday morning, the New York Times published a story with the headline: "Chris Christie Ally Expected to Plead Guilty in George Washington Bridge Lane-Closing Case." But many people read "Christie Ally" as "Kirstie Alley" and were understandably confused. "Why is Kirstie Alley pleading guilty to Bridgegate?" thought pretty much everyone this morning. So many people made the same mistake that the former Cheers star even began to trend on Twitter.

The actual person in the New York Times article, who has since plead guilty in the bridge scandal, is David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official who ordered the closing of several lanes to the George Washington Bridge in September 2013. Kirstie Alley is an actress who starred on the popular long-running series Cheers and the quirky late '80s movie Look Who's Talking, and recently made a career comeback with an impressive turn on Dancing With the Stars.

In other words, not the same person.

However, the New York Times' confusing choice of wording caused a surprisingly vast number of people to sincerely believe that the actress was somehow involved in the New Jersey political scandal. What I'm wondering is whether amid the mass confusion anyone asked, "Man, how did the New York Times spell Kirstie Alley's name so wrong?"

But if you were one of the people who thought Alley was pleading guilty, rest assured that you weren't the only one. So many people misread the headline that Kirstie Alley is now blowing up Twitter.