VIDEO: Morgan Freeman Outs Campaign Ad Lie

Morgan Freeman's voice is one of the most recognizable in the world. And it's been stolen by North Carolina Republican B.J. Lawson in an ad promoting his bid for Congress this election cycle.

The ad, attacking Democratic candidate David Price, features a voice-over from a Freeman voice double, and the resemblance is unmistakable. Further, Lawson went so far as to release a statement confirming that the ad was in fact voiced by the actor. "In response to numerous queries and enthusiastic feedback, the Lawson for Congress campaign confirms that its latest radio and TV ad is indeed narrated by actor Morgan Freeman," the press release stated. "Lawson was inspired by Mr. Freeman … and the campaign jumped at the opportunity to work with him. People shouldn't be so shocked that someone like Mr. Freeman would think outside of the left-right red vs. blue dynamic."

But Freeman totally denies that he worked on the ad. "These people are lying," he said in a statement through his representative. "I have never recorded any campaign ads for B.J. Lawson and I do not support his candidacy. And, no one who represents me ever has ever authorized the use of my name, voice or any other likeness in support of Mr. Lawson or his candidacy."

The Lawson campaign was forced to backtrack rapidly. "We're apologizing to Congressman Price, to the voters, and most of all to Morgan Freeman because this is not the campaign we wanted to run, and not the campaign we have run," they said, blaming the company MEI Political for misleading them into thinking that they had actually made an ad with the actor.

But Ben Mathis of MEI scoffed at Lawson's denial. "I made it very clear to B.J. in our conversation and via email that this was a voice double for Morgan Freeman," he told Politico. "I told him … that you cannot go around telling people that it's Morgan Freeman. I didn't expect that he was going to be going around telling people that this is Morgan Freeman. Perhaps he didn’t understand why he couldn't do that." –AMY LEE

Watch the original ad below: