No, this really didn’t happen…but for VH1’s show “Sledgehammer” it did!

Somehow I was living under a rock back in ‘01 it seems because I was watching VH1’s “40 Greatest Pranks” program today and in the top 20 was the prank of an old guy (looking like William S. Burroughs in the “Last Night on Earth video) in a wheelchair with 2 women dressed in nurse outfits trying to get their way into a U2 concert with the claim that he was Bono’s grandfather. This was originally broadcasted on VH1’s show, “Sledgehammer”…which appears to be another version of MTV’s Punk’d.

All 3 were talking with Irish accents, and they were showing a doctored photo of Bono (ZooTV era) and this old guy standing. They not only got past local security, but the footage shows the 3 of them with U2’s personal security and even stage manager Rocko prior to having him be wheeled into the heart with front row access in his wheelchair. His pass even had written on it “Bono’s Grandfather.” Footage shows him shaking his shilelagh saying “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “I’ll get in there with or without you.” You’d think the shilelagh would give him away!