Roger Ebert penned a blog post about his seemingly rude and heartless tweet about ‘Jackass’ star Ryan Dunn’s death — defending his position but apologizing for being blunt. Do YOU think he was rude?
After drinking three light beers and three shots June 19, Jackass star Ryan Dunn hopped in his sports car with his co-worker and ended up in a fatal crash that killed both him and his passenger. After his death, film critic Roger Ebert tweeted a statement that infuriated Ryan’s close friends and fans: “Friends don’t let jackasses drink and drive.” The following day (June 21), Roger took to his blog to defend his blunt words.
“To begin with, I offer my sympathy to Ryan Dunn’s family and friends, and to those of Zachary Hartwell, who also died in the crash. I mean that sincerely. It is tragic to lose a loved one. I also regret that my tweet about the event was considered cruel. It was not intended as cruel. It was intended as true,” Roger writes.
He also explains his word choice, saying, “I wasn’t calling Ryan Dunn a jackass. In Twitter shorthand, I was referring to his association with “Jackass.” I thought that was clear. I note that Bam Margera uses the word “jackass” in the same way in his tweet.”
The piece outlines the series of events that led up to the crash, as well as Roger’s thought process going into the untimely tweet.
“I don’t know what happened in this case, and I was probably too quick to tweet. That was unseemly,” he apologizes, adding, “I do know that nobody has any business driving on a public highway at 110 mph, as some estimated — or fast enough, anyway, to leave a highway and fly through 40 yards of trees before crashing. That is especially true if the driver has had three shots and three beers. Two people were killed. What if the car had crashed into another car?”
Roger’s tweet didn’t only anger Ryan’s close friend, Bam Margera — Ryan’s fans were so outraged they were able to temporarily shut down Roger’s Facebook! Most of the fans were too incensed to be diplomatic in their comments, however, one person made a clear point.
“Roger, you were a bit of a jackass yourself,” the fan wrote. “People don’t need truth bombs when they’re grieving.”
In the battle of Roger Ebert versus the Jackass stars, whose side are YOU on? Sound off below!
Kirstin Benson
Read more about Ryan Dunn:
- ‘Jackass’ Star Ryan Dunn Reportedly Had 3 Beers & 3 Shots Before His Fatal Car Crash! He Also Had A DUI History
- Johnny Knoxville, Tom Green & More Respond To ‘Jackass’ Star Ryan Dunn’s Tragic Death.
- ‘Jackass’ Star Ryan Dunn Is Found Dead After Car Crash — Sad News!
