The smackdowns of conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch just keep coming.
First J.K. Rowling eviscerated the News Corp CEO after he blamed “Moslems” for the attacks on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo. Then actor and comedian Aziz Ansari ripped him a new one during the Golden Globes as he tried to backtrack.
Although he didn’t respond to any of Rowling’s criticism earlier Sunday, Murdoch attempted to change his tune by Sunday afternoon, asking his followers to remember Ahmed Merabet, the Muslim police officer who was gunned down during the attack on Charlie Hebdo. Given Murdoch’s last tweet about Muslims, the request seemed disingenuous to some.
Extraordinary scenes in Paris today, but do not forget the heroic sacrifice of Ahmed Merabet, Muslim police officer whose funeral was today.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) January 11, 2015
Ansari took note of Murdoch’s shift, reminding his followers what Murdoch had said the day before and calling him out for being a hypocrite.
@rupertmurdoch Quit back peddling you racist piece of shit
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) January 12, 2015
In Murdoch’s anti-Muslim tweet, he wanted to hold all Muslims responsible for the attacks because of the “growing jihadist cancer.” Ansari, who is not religious, returned the favor, saying he would hold Murdoch responsible for every bad thing Christians had ever done.
Ansari had nothing against Christians or Muslims, he said, only ignorant people like Murdoch. His replies were fittingly merciless.
.@rupertmudoch Are you responsible for the evil shit all Christians do or just the insane amount of evil you yourself contribute to?
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) January 12, 2015
.@rupertmurdoch You are Catholic, why are you not hunting pedophiles? #RupertsFault
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) January 12, 2015
.@rupertmurdoch is responsible for all pedophilia committed by anyone Catholic. @rupertmurdoch why are you pro-pedophile :(
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) January 12, 2015
.@rupertmurdoch Are you responsible for the evil shit all Christians do or just the insane amount of evil you yourself contribute to?
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) January 12, 2015
.@RUPERTMURDOCH PLEASE TELL ME WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO STOP ANY AND ALL CRIMES COMMITTED BY PEOPLE OF YOUR RELIGION???!!!
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) January 12, 2015
.@rupertmurdoch, you’re already a vaguely evil media conglomerate guy and THEN you’re ALSO racist? FOR REAL?! You’re an evil overachiever!
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) January 12, 2015
While the top moments from the Golden Globes quickly took over Twitter‘s trending topics, Ansari’s use of #RupertsFault trended alongside them. People started to blame Murdoch for anything Christians had done to harm others, including numerous high-profile examples of religiously inspired hate.
Westboro Baptist Church. #RupertsFault
— Prashant (@busybee) January 12, 2015
Kirk Cameron movies #RupertsFault
— Julian Boisse (@2phonesmacabee) January 12, 2015
Soon enough, people just started to blame and hold him responsible for everything—even things completely unrelated to religious zealotry.
the Fat Boys broke up #RupertsFault.
— ?st (@questlove) January 12, 2015
SHAME RUPERT SHAME RT @mt_hardison .@azizansari Christian rock music. #RupertsFault
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) January 12, 2015
The popularity of The Big Bang Theory #Rupertsfault
— Tim (follow @Archdukekong, deleting this account) (@timothyfobrien) January 12, 2015
https://twitter.com/KegFreighter/status/554485277193162752
Ansari had the final word, although it’s only a matter of time before something else sends him into a well-deserved Twitter rage.
Fucking up a nice Golden Globes by making me go into a Twitter rage #RupertsFault
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) January 12, 2015
H/T Jezebel | Photo via David Shankbone/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)