A couple of journalists faced criticism Thursday for their responses to Nelson Mandela’s death.
Sam Stein, a liberal reporter for the Huffington Post, tweeted that Mandela’s death was “sudden,” prompting Twitter users to criticize his apparent joke. Mandela had been sick for a long time.
Stein deleted the tweet, but not before he was roundly criticized for it. “This is really all about Sam Stein, apparently,” tweeted one user. “nice to know you troll even in the worst of times,” said Politico’s Dylan Byers with a smiley-face symbol.
“What i was trying to say was I was caught off-guard. unprepared for Mandela’s death after having thought about it for some time a month ago,” Stein later argued.
But Hollywood blogger and Deadline.com founder Nikki Finke topped Stein with an even more offensive tweet plugging a new Hollywood movie.
“R.I.P. Nelson Mandela, subject of Weinstein Co’s Idris Elba-starrer ‘Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom’ which opened Nov 29 and has awards buzz,” Finke tweeted.
R.I.P. Nelson Mandela, subject of Weinstein Co’s Idris Elba-starrer ‘Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom’ which opened Nov 29 and has awards buzz.
— Nikki Finke (@NikkiFinke) December 5, 2013
Finke recently ended her relationship with Deadline Hollywood in an acrimonious split.