Actor Samuel L. Jackson received a hostile response on Twitter after posting a joke that many users considered homophobic.
His tweet implied that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and President Trump’s private attorney, Rudy Giuliani, wore kneepads and carried mints after they performed oral sex—presumably on President Trump.
https://twitter.com/SamuelLJackson/status/1007510881297575937
Actor Adam Baldwin responded to the tweet with “Gay shaming?” but has since deleted his tweet. Other users mentioned Capital One, for whom Jackson has been a spokesperson for several years, asking if it endorses that type of language.
The actor has also worked with Kangol on a golf hat collection bearing his name. Fortune reached out to both companies for comment on Jackson’s tweets, but neither responded.
Rather than commenting on the content of his tweet or taking it down, Jackson, who has starred in a number of movies including the Incredibles 2, Pulp Fiction, and Avengers: Infinity War, posted a message on Instagram that he had received from Twitter’s user service team that said he hadn’t violated Twitter’s rules.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkIeUCQH0Jm/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=v5o769ppu7td
If either Capital One or Kangol takes action against Jackson, he would be added to the long list of public figures who have gotten themselves into trouble on Twitter. Just last week, Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar was fired from his restaurant in Dubai because of anti-Islam tweets. In May, ABC cancelled the show of actress Roseanne Barr after she had posted racist tweets directed at former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. In March, Fox News host and radio personality Laura Ingraham lost advertisers on her program after making fun of activist and Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting survivor David Hogg.
