Susan Sarandon apologized Friday for sharing an “insensitive and deeply disrespectful” meme about slain New York Police Officer Jason Rivera’s funeral that implied cops are “not needed any day.”
“I deeply regret the meme I recently share on Twitter that included a photo of Officer Jason Rivera’s funeral,” the 75-year-old actress tweeted to her hundreds of thousands of followers. (RELATED: Susan Sarandon Arrested At ICE Protest)
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) February 4, 2022
“I reacted quickly to the picture without connecting it to a police funeral and I realize how insensitive and deeply disrespectful it was to make that point at that time,” she added. “I sincerely apologize to the family of Officers Rivera and [Officer Wilbert] Mora for causing additional pain during their time of grieving.” (RELATED: Debra Messing Tells Susan Sarandon To ‘STFU’ After She Credits Trump With More Women Running For Office)
The “Thelma and Louise” star faced a backlash after she tweeted an image of Rivera’s funeral procession in the city that showed thousands of officers in uniform turning out in support of the fallen officer and captioned it an image of fascism.
“I’m gonna tell my kids this is what fascism looks like,” the tweet read. It has since been deleted.
The tweet included a message over the image of the funeral that read, “So, if all these cops weren’t needed for CRIME that day, doesn’t that mean they aren’t needed ANY day?”
In 2020, Sarandon slammed former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio after he praised the NYPD for its “tremendous restraint overall” during the protests following the death of George Floyd, New York Daily News noted.