Grainy video apparently showed the Biodome star being confronted on stage by a burly Texan heckler, who knocked him to the ground before being led away what appeared to be a police officer.
But now police in the town of Odessa have said Saturday night’s scene was a set-up, aided by an off-duty officer who was in on the joke.
Shore set up the stunt in the city’s 8th Street Comedy Club less than a month after Seinfeld star Michael Richards’s genuine outburst at hecklers attracted huge media coverage, highlighting his racist language.
Shore’s so-called incident happened after he called a female heckler a ‘bitch’. After he climbed to his feet following the ‘punch’, he branded the audience ‘white trash’.
But Odessa Police Department yesterday issued a statement revealing the truth.
It said: ‘The officer who was employed at the club in an off-duty capacity… had met with Mr. Shore prior to his set, and was asked to participate in the skit.
‘The officer stated that the skit went as designed and that Shore was not injured in the designed skit.
‘The officer reports that after the show, Pauly Shore conducted his autograph session and had his photograph taken with the alleged “assaulter.”
‘There is no further investigation into this incident.’
Here’s the video:
