The Office star Jenna Fischer apologizes for false tax bill tweet

Nick Romano
Updated
The Office star Jenna Fischer apologizes for false tax bill tweet

Jenna Fischer (a.k.a. Pam from NBC’s The Office) apologized after she came under fire for an inaccurate tweet she sent out about the GOP’s tax bill.

“I made a mistake and I want to correct it,” the actress, 43, wrote. “After reading your feedback and doing additional research I discovered that I tweeted something that was not accurate. Last month, the House of Representatives voted for a tax bill that did kill a $250 deduction for teachers to buy classroom supplies, but in the final bill the deduction was restored. I feel genuinely bad about getting my facts wrong and I’m sorry.”

Many on social media slammed Fischer for “misleading people” when she tweeted, “I can’t stop thinking about how school teachers can no longer deduct the cost of their classroom supplies on their taxes…something they shouldn’t have to pay for with their own money in the first place. I mean, imagine if nurses had to go buy their own syringes.”

The tweet has since been deleted.

“I did not mean to spread misinformation,” Fischer wrote in her apology. “I was well-intentioned, but I was behind on my research. So, I’ve deleted the tweet. Because, I believe accuracy is important.”

Fischer considered keeping her original tweet live on Twitter because of the conversation it started but reasoned “part of having a dialogue involves listening and learning and admitting when you’re wrong.”

“I’m not ashamed to say I was wrong and I’m not ashamed to correct,” she wrote. “I was taught that taking responsibility is the right thing to do. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) Please accept my apology.”

While Fischer may have gotten this detail wrong, many other celebrities and late-night personalities have explained why they’re against the $1.5 trillion GOP tax bill, which will grant tax cuts to big corporations and wealthy Americans.

“The Republican Party is the enemy of the American people,” TrumpLand director Michael Moore tweeted at the beginning of December.

“This is not the largest tax cut in history — larger tax cuts were passed twice under Obama and once under Reagan — but, as usual, that has not stopped Trump from lying over and over again,” Seth Meyers said on Late Night.