USC Misspells Shakespeare On Statue In $700 Million Project

LOS ANGELES, CA — To "E" or not to "E" that is the question that has many people shaking their heads at USC’s new $700 million project with a statue that seems to misspell Shakespeare in attributing a quote from “Hamlet” to "Shakespear."

Leave it to crosstown rival UCLA to point out that something is rotten in the state of California. The Den, UCLA’s student section of athletics, set off a firestorm of online mockery Tuesday when it tweeted, “USC. The only place in America that can unveil a statue as the centerpiece of a $700 million project and manage to misspell Shakespeare.”

However, USC officials were quick to point out the method to their madness, claiming the spelling pays homage to the oldest versions of the bard’s name.

"To E, or not to E, that is the question. Over the centuries his surname has been spelled 20 different ways," USC officials said in a written release. "USC chose an older spelling because of the ancient feel of the statue, even though it is not the most common form"

The statue is of Queen Hecuba, Greek mythology’s wife of King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War. And the quote is, “And all for nothing— For Hecuba! What’s Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba That he should weep for her?”

But some aren’t buying the Trojan explanation.

TMZ gives USC an “F For Effort In Covering Up Shakespeare Blunder,” claiming that in every course devoted to the bard, the school references Shakespeare with every “e” accounted for.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK IN THE COMMENTS: Embarrassing blunder or no?

Photos courtesy of UCLA