NEW YORK, March 27, 2007

Eddie Griffin Wrecks $1.5 Million Ferrari

Comedian Crashes Pricey Car While Practicing For Charity Race

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  • Eddie Griffin poses beside the Ferrari Enzo that he crashed while participating in the Redline

    Eddie Griffin poses beside the Ferrari Enzo that he crashed while participating in the Redline "Race For A Cause" at the Irwindale Speedway in Los Angeles on March 26, 2007.  (GETTY IMAGES/Charley Gallay)

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(CBS/AP)  Eddie Griffin crashed a rare Ferrari Enzo worth $1.5 million into a concrete barrier Monday, destroying the car but escaping without injuries.

The comedian was practicing for a charity race to promote his upcoming film, "Redline," when he drove too fast around a curve at the Irwindale Speedway and smashed into a divide. Video footage showed the red sports car screeching before it ricocheted off the barrier with heavy damage to its front.

"Undercover Brother's good at karate and all the rest of that, but the brother can't drive," Griffin, referring to one his past films, told reporters after the accident.

"I was coming around the track and came into a tight turn and I hit a cone and the cone got caught underneath the tire. So the tire locked up and … slammed into the wall," Griffin told CBS News.

The film's publicist, Wendy Zocks, said Griffin was "doing OK."

"He walked away completely unscratched, but probably a little shaken," Zocks said.

"You know I'm not a race car driver, I'm a comedian," Griffin said. "Uh, just glad that I'm OK."

The Enzo was owned by the film's executive producer, Daniel Sadek, whose exotic car collection was featured in the movie.

Sadek said the car was beyond repair and that he had "mixed feelings" about the wreck.

"I'm glad Eddie came out of the crash OK, but my dream car got destroyed," Sadek said. "I went to my trailer for about 15 minutes and I thought, there's people dying every day. A lot of worse things are happening in the world."

Only 400 Ferrari Enzos were ever produced, all between 2002 and 2004.

Griffin's credits include the comedies "Undercover Brother," "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" and its sequel, "Date Movie," and "Norbit."

© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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by ajaxrose1 March 27, 2007 7:58 PM EDT
This is news?
Reply to this comment
by jimibear March 27, 2007 7:50 PM EDT
"Why woulf any ome let a dumd comedian drive a car, lety a lone one that is worth 1.5 million. He don't know how to do any thing but be a dumb acking kid, bad thing is people pay to see this ***. Smiling after wrecking a 1.5 million car. That should till you he is a dumb as
Posted by sainethepain at 10:55 AM : Mar 27, 2007"

Is this post intentional satire, or are you really stupid and barely literate?
Reply to this comment
by agnim March 27, 2007 5:52 PM EDT
That was a great wreck! LOL

We need more of them making a mockery of UNMITIGATED GREED!

The owner did take time out to recognize that 'people are dying' and 'worse things are happening' to people.

Hopefully, he'll not waste resources to replace a SYMBOL OF GREED, and instead invest the resources wisely in his fellow Americans who could make much better use of it.
Reply to this comment
by inventagod March 27, 2007 3:37 PM EDT
"Why woulf any ome let a dumd comedian drive a car, lety a lone one that is worth 1.5 million. He don't know how to do any thing but be a dumb acking kid, bad thing is people pay to see this ***. Smiling after wrecking a 1.5 million car. That should till you he is a dumb as

Posted by sainethepain at 10:55 AM : Mar 27, 2007"

a wreck is what we all see...
Reply to this comment
by whatithink-2009 March 27, 2007 3:30 PM EDT
kpbkpb,

Based on the article, I don't think that it was him that made this comment but the owner of the car. I guess the owner has insurance.
Reply to this comment
by olebd March 27, 2007 3:27 PM EDT
You have to take classes to drive a car like this. Shame on whoever let him drive their car. They are the stupid ones. There's way too much money in that town. These celebrities have lost sight of what's really important in the real world....in the world outside of their cushy bubble.
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by kpbkpb March 27, 2007 2:42 PM EDT
I saw the accident on the news. This guy promptly gets out of the car and starts immediately begins posing in front of the twisted metal--smiling like he had something to REALLY be proud of! Look at the picture in THIS article.... does he REALLY LOOK humble even after saying "I went to my trailer for about 15 minutes and I thought, there's people dying every day. A lot of worse things are happening in the world." What happened to the class of Hollywood and New York?
Reply to this comment
by sainethepain March 27, 2007 1:55 PM EDT
Why woulf any ome let a dumd comedian drive a car, lety a lone one that is worth 1.5 million. He don't know how to do any thing but be a dumb acking kid, bad thing is people pay to see this ***. Smiling after wrecking a 1.5 million car. That should till you he is a dumb as
Reply to this comment

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