Walmart Apologizes After Backlash Over Paul Walker Tweet Posted in 'Poor Judgment'
Walmart is apologizing after the company came under fire on Thursday when its Twitter account seemingly made a joke about the late actor Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in 2013.
“We apologize to Paul Walker’s family, friends and fans,” a spokesperson for Walmart said in a statement to PEOPLE. “The tweet was posted in poor judgement and has been removed.”
The tweet was posted in response to another user who had shared a GIF of a car racing through traffic, which was itself a response to another tweet about Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls sold at Walmart.
“Hey, Paul Walker, click it or ticket,” Walmart’s official Twitter account responded to the tweet, as captured by Business Insider.
The tweet quickly drew backlash online, as several users found the remark insensitive in light of the way the Fast and the Furious star died.
*me racin to the nearest Wally World* pic.twitter.com/JYzQaCzCQ0
— LSM (@iamlaurenmiles) January 14, 2020
The line is a quote from the Comedy Central series Workaholics, but as one Twitter user pointed out, “it has not aged well.”
Walker’s tragic death came just a few weeks after his daughter Meadow turned 15.
Meadow, now a model in New York City, shared a tribute to her late father on what would have been the actor’s 46th birthday in September.
“happy birthday to the loveliest soul I’ll ever know,” she wrote alongside a black-and-white shot of the father-daughter pair smiling up at the camera.
Several of Walker’s fellow Fast and the Furious cast mates also shared tributes to their fallen friend.
RELATED: Dwayne Johnson Says Friendship with Late Paul Walker Was ‘Bonded Over Our Daughters’
“Normally today I would be planning how to embarrass you with a birthday cake. Haha,” Vin Diesel wrote on Instagram. “Instead I reflect on how lucky I am to call you my brother. The tears never go away, but they change… from that of mourning to that of grace. We only hope to make you proud.”
“Speaking of which, guess what message I woke up to… your daughter,” Diesel, 52, continued. “Meadow sending me love on this day. Wow, she knows me so well. She has your heart. Happy birthday… it’s amazing, but somehow you continue to make the world a better place.”
“I think so many people think, ‘Oh, he was just a movie star who was killed in a car accident.’ But there was so much more to him,” Walker’s mother, Cheryl, previously told PEOPLE. “That was just a piece of who he was. He was an amazing man.”
