BBC removes false Will Ferrell story based on parody Twitter account

User with paid-for blue tick verification, not actor, apologised to Sunderland football fans after match

The BBC has removed a story about Will Ferrell apologising to Sunderland AFC fans, after being fooled by a parody Twitter account with a paid-for blue tick.

Ferrell, who has been touring Britain attending football matches over the last month, recorded a video before Sunderland AFC played his team, Queens Park Rangers, in which he mocked “the tears of sorrow” his opponents were going to experience.