Walmart Deletes Insensitive Paul Walker Tweet Amid Social Media Outrage

It’s never a good time to make a joke about a dead celebrity.

The Workaholics fan currently running Walmart’s Twitter account learned that the hard way when a seemingly innocuous reply sparked fierce Twiticism.

According to TMZ, the controversy began when a user on the social site shared a story about Walmart selling Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls with strawberry and cream-flavored icing, writing:

“I NEEDDDD THIS IN MY LIFEEEE!!!”

To illustrate their point, the user added a silly GIF of a car wildly speeding through traffic, complete with the caption:

“*me racin to the nearest Wally World*”

It was all fun and GIFs — that is, until the employee behind Walmart’s Twitter account chimed in on Thursday and replied to the post by tweeting:

“Hey, Paul Walker. Click it, or ticket.”

Oh no.

Walmart deletes insensitive joke about Paul Walker — (c) Twitter

As TMZ pointed out, the employee was probably trying to make a Fast & Furious reference. However, the joke completely fell flat with users, due to the fact that the celebrated actor tragically died as a passenger in a Porshe driven by his friend at speeds over 100 mph.

While the line was used before in an episode of Workaholics, that episode aired in 2011 — two years before the 40-year-old’s tragic passing. Unsurprisingly, the tweet has since been removed, and we join the Twitter choir hoping that Walmart pumps the brakes on the dead celeb references.

To this day, fans and friends of the actor are still reeling over his death. In September 2019, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson posted a birthday tribute to his late Fast & Furious co-star because he “almost lost another friend on the road” recently (Kevin Hart, for those who don’t know). He wrote:

“I never post about my friend. Personal thing, but I prefer to keep our memories and bond private and quiet. But something about today compelled me as a moving reminder of how fragile life is for all of us. It’s Paul’s birthday and rightfully so, his legacy celebrated around the world. Our friendship was bonded over our daughters, Meadow & Simone and the pride and protection we took being their fathers. And recently, I got a scare when I almost lost another friend on the road. All this stuff got me thinking about how beautiful, yet wildly unpredictable life is. We never know what’s around the corner, so we gotta live as greatly as we can in the honor of our loved ones and ancestors who are no longer with us. Manuia le aso fanau, my friend. #livegreatly #pw”

Let’s all take the high road and remember to respect those we’ve lost.

[Image via WENN/ YouTube]