Glen Powell said a family friend was once groomed by a cannibal — but it sounds a whole lot like an urban myth

• "Hit Man" star Glen Powell said his family friend was groomed by a cannibal.

• He told the story on the "Therapuss" podcast.

• But the story sounds a whole lot like a common urban myth.

Glen Powell said his sister's friend was once groomed by a cannibal on a date, but the story sounds like a common urban myth.

In May, Powell appeared on the "Therapuss" podcast to promote Netflix's "Hit Man." In the film, he plays a police contractor who poses as a contract killer to catch criminals.

Based on a real story, the film sees Powell's character don different disguises to play various fake hitmen, each with a unique identity. But during the podcast, the star recounted a bizarre story of his own.

He said that when his sister was in college 10 years ago, one of her friends went back to a man's apartment after going on a date with him.

"So, he starts massaging her shoulders. Everything just feelin' odd. She's like, 'I gotta get out of here.' It's a little weird, he's like, 'No, no. Please don't leave. Sorry.' She leaves," Powell said.

Powell said the woman later went to the doctor after her skin started itching.

"He does a test on her skin. It turns out it's a black market lotion that breaks down skin for human consumption," Powell said. "This man was rubbing lotion on her body to eat her."

But Powell's story didn't end there.

"The doctor is like, 'You have to give me this person's address and you should call the police.' They go to this guy's house, and he had several girls' bodies in the house," Powell said.

As celebrity podcast anecdotes go, a cannibal story is pretty hard to beat. But the purpose of these kinds of interviews is to convince audiences to watch whatever project the actor is promoting.

In this instance, a weird cannibal tale from Powell just might work to get a potential viewer to watch Netflix's "Hit Man" which, as mentioned above, is based on a wild true story.

But this particular recital seems to be derived from a common urban myth.

According to fact-checking site Snopes.com, there are plenty of variations on this urban myth. They typically involve a woman going on a date or sleeping with someone, only to find horrific ramifications on their body after unknowingly meeting a serial killer, a cannibal, or a necrophiliac.

Powell, for his part, didn't provide any verifiable details about the case.

Plus, the star has been known to mislead audiences to promote a movie. In December, he told Business Insider that he leaned into the false rumors that he was dating Sydney Sweeney while filming their 2023 rom-com, "Anyone But You."

He said Sweeney recognized the pair's "authentic chemistry" and came up with the idea to use it as a marketing tool.

Representatives for Powell did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Read the original article on Business Insider