Rance

[southernbelle]

This is from a while ago but I was thinking about it earlier today and decided to post it!

Who is Rance?
The latest buzz in the blogosphere is about the weblog of 'Rance,' an anonymous blogger who claims to be a well-known, A-list, Hollywood celebrity. Or as he coyly puts it on his weblog, "I can tell you what it's like to see your picture on the magazine rack every now and again when you pay for groceries." For a couple of months he's been dishing up dirt on life in Hollywood, and he's succeeded in attracting a huge following. He even got interviewed (anonymously) by Reuters last week. But of course, he won't reveal who he is... which just makes everyone crazy to find out the secret. Is Rance really a celebrity, or is he just an average schmuck pretending to be a celebrity?
Full article http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/rance/

The prime suspect at this point seems to be a cartoonist named Keith Thomson, but other suspects include
-Owen Wilson
-Ben Affleck (reference made to initials OV - the same ones he has tattooed on his back)
-Jim Carrey
-Kevin Smith
-Kevin Smith pretending to be Ben Affleck (actually strong evidence to support this)
-Tim Robbins
-Ron Howard (his father is named Rance)
-ad exec Ryan Ebner

Personally, I've always just thought it was Jim Carrey. I'm not sure why, I guess it just seems like the sort of thing he'd do!

[LynnieD]

Never heard of this before! How interesting! I think I'll have to investigate this a bit!!

[card]

There was a mention about it last year on some boards but haven't heard about it in like a year. Someone once thought it was John Cusack since he likes to blog on the Huffington site, or some other pc savvy celeb that blogs.

[princess chitchat]

Popular guesses I've seen:

Alec Baldwin
George Clooney
Ben Affleck
Owen Wilson

Some things he has mentioned in his blogs over time:
- enjoys threater
- keeps track of baseball
- wears prescriptionless eyeglasses
- went to college
- likes the band Queen

And here's an interesting article about Rance:

I?m Not Owen Wilson

The mysterious Internet blogger known as Rance is not Owen Wilson. Or George Clooney. Or Ron Livingston (Office Space).

At least, that?s what Owen Wilson told The Transom when contacted about recent rumors the Starsky and Hutch co-star was the man behind the Web log, the online personal diary of an anonymous Hollywoodite who posts three or four times a week?generating as many as 80 responses to each entry.

In his entries, he recounts everything from frustrating meetings with movie executives and trips to Cuba with celebrity friends, to seedy casting-couch stories and even what he shops for at the grocery store. And each account has the ring of truth: He not only invokes familiar Hollywood archetypes, but also comes up with some real doozies?like the time he stumbled into a room at an actress? house, only to find bizarre photos of her dancing naked with someone in a devil costume. He never names names. And he tweaks minor details in order to keep his intrepid readership from finding out his true identity.

Guessing Rance?s identity has become something of a free-for-all. One e-mail sent to a blogger who had earlier opined on Rance?s identity read: "Rance talks about meeting Kato Kaelin before Rance was famous. Clooney had already been on ER a couple years by the time O.J. went knifey, hadn?t he? Owen Wilson is a good guess ?. " Another person e-mailed: "I think that the pseudonymous Rance blogger is Ron Livingston, of Office Space. He was at both Oscar and Globes pre- or post-parties, attended the Kill Bill premiere, and doesn?t current[ly] appear to have a business manager ? all items that he?s mentioned in his blog." (For the record, Mr. Livingston does have a manager.)

Apparently, Owen Wilson doesn?t even know what a blog is. He said, "I haven?t been online in months. I can barely write a thank-you note, so to keep an online diary is not possible." But he did admit that someone had asked him on set the day before if he was indeed the mysterious blogger. As for Mr. Clooney, his publicist said: "No?I can say that without blinking." And although Mr. Livingston?s publicist denied any involvement on behalf of her client, she added, "If it?s funny, then he is more than happy to take the credit for it."

Let the guessing continue.

Jake Brooks