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David Alan Grier will be the new Col. Sanders in the long-running Kentucky Fried Chicken ads.

Actor and comedian David Alan Grier set off a frenzy on Thursday when he took to Twitter to announce he would be taking over as Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Col. Sanders. The news of Grier becoming the fast food company’s top pitch man was shot down by a KFC executive, the New York Daily News reports.

“Breaking News: David Alan Grier has been cast as the first African American Colonel Sanders in the new KFC ad campaign,” read Grier’s tweet from this morning, which was shared over 100 times via retweets. Initially, it looked like Grier’s joke could have morphed into an opportunity as the Twitter account for KFC responded kindly to the message.

However, a statement from KFC executive Kevin Hochman offered that there are no immediate plans to revamp the Col. Sanders character despite the passionate response from fans. Hochman did say he’d be willing to speak to Grier over one KFC’s signature $5 Doll Fill Ups meals.

The late Colonel Harland Sanders spent many of his formative years in Indiana and began making his “secret recipe” fried chicken during his stint as a Kentucky service station owner in the early 1930s. He was given the honorary title of colonel in 1935 and was not a military officer.

After the KFC franchise boomed in the 1950s, Sanders eventually sold the rights of his company in 1964 but remained the brand ambassador up until his passing in 1980 at the age of 90.

SOURCE: NYDN | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty | VIDEO CREDIT: Inform/NYDN

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Just Kidding: David Alan Grier Will Not Be KFC’s First Black Colonel Sanders  was originally published on newsone.com