The world was shocked this past week when mother and daughter Hollywood icons Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds passed away within just one day of each other. That shock turned to outrage when tasteless tweets by Cinnabon and comedian D.L. Hughley emerged via the online platform.
Two Hollywood Icons Pass
As we recently reported, famous Hollywood actress Carrie Fisher, who most famously appeared as Princess Leia in the Star Wars movie franchise, passed away on Tuesday, Dec. 27 after having suffered a heart attack on an airplane flight several days prior. As the news was sinking in, and tributes from friends, family, and other Hollywood stars began circulating in the media, another shocking death occurred.
Fisher's parents were of course the Hollywood royalty of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and the world let out a collective gasp when it learned that Reynolds too had passed away on Wednesday, just one day after Fisher, after suffering a stroke while making funeral arrangements for her beloved daughter.
While the world mourned the unthinkable and almost simultaneous passing of both mother and daughter, shock turned to outrage when several insensitive tweets about their deaths were released.
Twitter Outrage Surrounding Cinnabon And D.L. Hughley
On Tuesday, the day of Fisher's passing, Cinnabon, which makes hot cinnamon rolls across the world, tweeted a picture of Fisher as Princess Leia with a cinnamon bun replacing her iconic hair bun and captioned "RIP Carrie Fisher, you'll always have the best buns in the galaxy." The tweet provoked angry responses accusing the company of using Fisher's death to promote its brand, and within an hour Cinnabon removed it from its Twitter feed.
Then, following Reynold's death, comedian D.L. Hughley released the following tweet: "Debbie Reynolds died a day after her daughter did! Black Mama's don't die cuz they kids do! They cry and say God don't make no mistakes!"
The remark sparked outrage across the Twitterverse, with one commenter, Judith Benezra, summing up the general sentiment, tweeting that "As a human being you could have more compassion. As a father you could have more heart. As a comedian, you should have a seat."
Hughley, who has defiantly refused to remove the offensive tweet, responded to Benezra, stating that "Nah!! As a comedian I should say what I see."
Benezra soon clapped back, "Absolutely, but in this instance I think any commentary other than condolences for a grieving family is heartless and humorless."
The incident renews the debate as to whether comedians should be subject to the same rules of taste as other members of the public.
Some, such as the late comedienne Joan Rivers, have argued that nothing should be off-limits, as humor helps us to cope with and accept the trauma of tragedy. Others feel that there is still a line of taste that should never be crossed. Perhaps different rules should be applied to a show that is actively attended by fans of a performer who know what type of comedy to expect, as opposed to a worldwide open platform such as Twitter.
