Time Magazine refutes President Trump’s ‘Person of the Year’ claim

Celebrities mock Trump on Twitter over his claim that he had declined to be interviewed

Time Magazine has refuted US President Donald Trump's claim that he turned down the magazine's request for "an interview" and "major photoshoot" for its Person of the Year issue, according to NBC News.

In a tweet on Friday as he spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Florida, Trump sounded dismissive of the honor he received last year and could well receive again.

Trump said the magazine informed him he was “probably” going to be granted the title for the second year in a row. He tweeted: “I said probably is no good and took a pass.”Alan Murray, chief content officer at Time Inc, said there was "not a speck of truth" to the president's claims.

Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2017

Trump frequently boasts about appearing on the cover of the iconic magazine.

He has falsely claimed to hold the record for cover appearances, and was revealed earlier this year to have displayed fake issues of Time with himself on the cover at several of his golf clubs.

Famous sports personalities and actors also took to Twitter on Friday to mock the president's claim that he had declined to be interviewed.



Star Wars actor Mark Hamill posted that "Time Magazine called to say that I was DEFINITELY going to be named "Man [Person] of the Year" but I would have to agree to leak major #Ep8 spoilers."

New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard tweeted: "Sports Illustrated called and said I was probably going to be Sportsman of the Year, but it was going to take a long photo shoot and interview. I'm not proud of my recent perm and have interpretive dance class at the interview time so I turned it down! No Thanks SI!!"

Time's Person of the Year is defined by the weekly as "a person [or people] who has had the most influence over the news in the last 12 months." Awarded since 1927, the accolade has gone to a wide variety of people — even Adolf Hitler, in 1938, and Joseph Stalin, in 1939 and 1942. The magazine will unveil its Person of the Year on December 6.