Roger Ebert Stands By Controversial Tweet

Roger Ebert has been taking some heat for the Tweet above, which alludes to the death of Jackass star Ryan Dunn. Dunn died in a high speed car accident Monday morning, after an night of drinking with friends. Many felt that Ebert’s Tweet was salt in the would for those grieving Dunn’s death.

Ebert explained his position in his latest column:

I don’t know what happened in this case, and I was probably too quick to tweet. That was unseemly. 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?

Ebert’s Facebook page was also taken down this morning in response to anonymous complaints, likely from those angry over the Dunn controversy. Ebert’s page has since been restored, but it serves to further Facebook’s flawed policy of “Censor first, ask questions later.”

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