The book publishers Simon & Schuster recently duped fans with “hand-signed” copies of Bob Dylan’s latest book, The Philosophy of Modern Song. Over a decade ago, the same thing happened. Well not exactly, but bamboozling and, in a way, Bob Dylan was involved.
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On this day in 2010, an Amherst, Massachusetts pizza parlor, Antonio’s, received a visit from a man claiming to be a member of Dylan’s crew. The man, flashing the backstage pass that was around his neck, ordered 178 extra large gourmet pizzas. He claimed the pies were for an after-party following Dylan’s upcoming gig at the local arena, the Mullins Center.
He amassed a bill of $3,900, and in order to fulfill the request that they thought came directly from Mr. Tamborine Man himself, the staff at Antonio’s reportedly had to work until 5:30 a.m., hours after typical closing time at 2:00 a.m. They were stunned when no one came to pick up the pizzas or pay the hefty tab. Most of the 178 pizzas had to be thrown out.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the manager of Antonio’s said they had been “too trusting,” adding, “It was a tremendous waste of time, money, food, and effort … Our people were here very late. People who had worked a full shift had to work an extra four hours and got out at about 6 in the morning.”
The perpetrator was captured by the restaurant’s surveillance camera and images of the man were sent off to local news stations in the hopes of tracking him down. He was eventually identified as having no affiliation with the musician.
Dylan never commented about the incident, but the man reportedly settled his bill with Antonio’s soon after.
Photo by Matthew Baker / Getty Image
