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The guy who voiced Laurel/Yanny has been found — here's what he actually said

Jay Aubrey Jones, the actor who voiced the viral Laurel vs. Yanny audio clip, revealed which word he said and spoke about his newfound internet fame.
/ Source: TODAY

Is it "Laurel" or "Yanny"? The man who voiced the viral audio clip that divided the nation last week settled it once and for all.

Broadway and television actor Jay Aubrey Jones, 64, who voiced the clip for Vocabulary.com in 2007, told NBC New York that he was pronouncing the word "laurel."

Jones first realized his voice was at the center of the debate when his phone was inundated with texts and calls on May 16 after a segment about it aired on TODAY.

He had watched news about the hubbub on TODAY himself without knowing he was in the middle of it.

"Oddly enough I had not recognized my own voice when I heard it on television," he told NBC New York. "I'm completely and utterly floored by this, I'm really amused ... every so often I'm laughing."

The debate started by Georgia high school student Katie Yetzel and tweeted by vlogger Cloe Feldman became the audio equivalent of #TheDress, with everyone on the internet taking sides.

Laurel was declared the winner, 51-49 percent, in a TODAY poll that received more than 20,000 votes.

It turns out that listening on a laptop, desktop, cell phone or through headphones made a difference in what people heard due to the low quality of recording, University of Arizona professor Brad Story told CNN.

Jones voiced the now-famous clip as part of about 36,000 words and phrases he recorded for Vocabulary.com as a side gig 11 years ago.

Now he can add "voice of Laurel/Yanny" to his resume, which includes Broadway shows like "Cats" and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," as well as the TV series "The Michael J. Fox Show."

"Now I have to go onto IMDB to see how it's listed so I can put it on my hardcopy resume," he said. "I'm thrilled this is causing such recognition and such debate on how we hear and perceive things."

Follow TODAY.com writer Scott Stump on Twitter.