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Roger Ebert: Ryan Dunn comments spur Facebook backlash
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On Monday (June 20), film critic Roger Ebert -- an avid social media enthusiast -- found himself without a Facebook page after he made a controversial comment -- on Twitter -- about the death of "Jackass" star Ryan Dunn.Dunn died early Monday morning after the Porsche he was driving slammed into a tree on a rural Pennsylvania road. A few hours before the incident, Dunn tweeted photos of himself drinking at a local bar. While the outpouring of grief from friends and fans swelled, Ebert reacted by posting a sober warning about drunk driving.
Friends don't let jackasses drink and drive.less than a minute ago via SocialOomph 
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Roger Ebert
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While the message was sensible it was also, perhaps, ill-timed on Ebert's part. Outraged "Jackass" fans took to the critic's Facebook page to berate him for criticizing Dunn. Then, suddenly, the page was just gone. In its place was a message stating it had been removed for violating Facebook's terms of use.
Was it taken down to chastise Ebert or to stem the tide of mostly unprintable (at least here) comments?
Ebert wondered, too, tweeting, "Facebook! My page is harmless and an asset to you. Why did you remove it in response to anonymous jerks? Makes you look bad."
And, less than an hour later, it was back online -- complete with nasty comments. According to a Facebook spokesman, "The page was was removed in error. We apologize for the inconvenience."
In one of the tamer messages left on Ebert's Facebook wall, one person wrote "Friends dont let fat a--es eat gravy fries!"
Bam Margera, fellow "Jackass" star, also took exception to Ebert's reaction, tweeting, "I just lost my best friend I have been crying hysterical for a full day and piece of s--t roger ebert has the gall to put in his 2 cents. F--k you! Millions of people are crying right now, shut your fat f--king mouth!"
What do you think? Was Ebert out of line or right on message?
Update: In a new blog post, Ebert explains his motivation in writing the tweet. Despite admitting the timing may have been off, the film critic stands by his message:
"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?"
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I hate to say it, but he's got a point. If Dunn was found to be intoxicated while driving, then he deserves to be called out for it. He puts not only his own life in danger but, more importantly, the lives of innocent people who were driving sober.
Having said that, the term "jackasses" wasn't necessary.
Of course he is right. Driving drunk is more than a mistake, it is a conscience choice.
The sentiment is valid--drunk driving kills, and it usually kills the innocent people who are driving sober. But the execution was a little flawed. Even if Dunn died because he chose to drive drunk, his family and friends are still grieving and they don't need to hear such negative comments. If Ebert had said it in a more kind manner, I think it would have been taken more seriously.
he was on the money drunk drivers make me sick! what if he had hit a family ?? jackass fans wake up !!
he was on the money drunk drivers make me sick! what if he had hit a family ?? jackass fans wake up !!
A Political Hack fawning over Movies with Socialist Propaganda is more dangerous than a Jackass.
I completely agree with him on that but he was out of line y did he have to change it to jackasses?? Very bad timing I have to say after this I wnt be reading his reviews anymore!! RIP Ryan Dunn
Ryan Dunn was a human being. Regardless of whether or not he was to blame for his own death, to mock his death demonstrates callousness. Should we go to the hospital and laugh at the lung cancer patients who were smokers?
The facts are not all in, but given the twitter photo that was posted prior to the accident, it's perfectly reasonable to suspect that alcohol was a contributing factor.
Given that, it's perfectly appropriate to use this incident to bring attention to the consequences of drinking and driving. Ebert did nothing wrong.
too bad all the anger at Ebert wasn't directed at helping this guy lead a sober life and not drive drunk - thank goodness this jackass didn't kill anyone else!