Susan Sarandon apologized for sharing an insensitive tweet she posted on social media.
The tweet compared a NYC Police Department funeral to ‘racism’. The tweet mocked Officer Rivera’s funeral and was captioned, “I’m gonna tell my kids this is what racism looks like. So, if all these cops weren’t needed for CRIME that day, doesn’t that mean they aren’t needed ANY day?”
The 75 year old actress faced immense backlash on social media this week. Many were irate over her mocking the thousands of officers who paid respect to their slain colleague.
“I deeply regret the meme I recently shared on Twitter that included a photo of Officer Jason Rivera’s funeral. I reacted quickly to the picture without connecting it to a police funeral and I realize now how insensitive and deeply disrespectful it was to make that point at that time,” Sarandon wrote on Friday.
Two NYPD detectives, Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora, died after they were shot while responding to a domestic violence call on Jan. 21. There was massive turnout from NYPD officers for both funerals.
“I sincerely apologize to the family of Officers Rivera and Mora for causing additional pain during their time of grieving,” Sarandon added.
People on both sides of the political spectrum and various police groups condemned Sarandon for the tweet.
In response to Sarandon’s tweet, Joe Lockhart tweeted, “Dear Republicans: Susan Sarandon is not ours. She hasn’t voted for a Democrat in a long time. Maybe she’s one of those fake flag operations you guys are whispering about all the time.”
Another person also tweeted, “This is what privilege looks like: a wealthy actress, safe in her bubble, mocking heroes and making light of the crisis that cops are battling alongside our communities. NYC is uniting to stop the violence!”
Sarandon has since taken down and deleted the tweet before publicly apologizing.
