Griffin denies Ferrari crash was a hoax

LOS ANGELES - Actor-comedian Eddie Griffin has denied his high-end car crash Monday was a hoax.

Griffin was taking part in a promotional charity race at the Irwindale Speedway when he reportedly drove too fast around a curve. Griffin crashed into a wall in what was reported to be a rare Ferrari Enzo worth $1.5 million.

Since the accident, however, some have speculated Griffin crashed the car to gain publicity for his April 13 car film "Redline."

"(It's been) painful, you know," Griffin said of his injuries he sustained in the incident. "Then you got crazy conspiracy theories that think it's a hoax.

"It's not on my head here," he said gesturing at a lump on his head. "That is not a hoax, and the pain I got in my neck is not a hoax."

Griffin, who was racing for charity organization Daughters of Power, said he would not have crashed such an expensive vehicle as a public con job.

"I mean, how retarded do you got to be to think that somebody is going to wreck a million and a half dollar car as a hoax?" he asked. "And why would I want to be the one driving it and running it into a concrete divider as a hoax!"

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The actor said the car, one of only 400 in the world, gave him trouble on the road leading up to the incident.

"I am feeling it out, taking the turn, and a cone got caught underneath one of the tires," he recounted to "Access Hollywood."  "These cars are so low to the ground (that) when a cone got under there — if you watched the footage, the wheel is locked, so I am trying to turn, and it's locked, and there we go right there into the wall."

The star of "Undercover Brother" said he saw a cameraman on the side of the racetrack. Skeptics have suggested the man did not move while filming the incident, furthering the theory it was staged. Griffin told "Access" that account is simply not correct.

"I remember seeing that fool," Griffin said. "He should've moved, 'cause when that car went up in the damn air, what if it came over and you are trying to get the shot. Sometimes you say, 'What the hell?' "

Following the accident, Griffin told "Access" he plans to take a couple of weeks off to recover. He said the accident also left him with a lesson.

"I shouldn't be behind the wheel in a car race," he said. "There is a reason I did acting and didn't become a NASCAR racer. We will stick to microphones."

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