Getty Images So you didn’t expect Roger Ebert’s comment on the death of Ryan Dunn to go quietly into the night, did you? On Monday Ebert tweeted of Dunn, who died in an (apparently) alcohol-fueled car crash the previous night, “Friends don’t let Jackasses drink and drive.” Today the film critic is on the defensive, with several commenters on his Facebook page derided him for insensitivity, led by Dunn’s friend and Jackass co-star Bam Margera.
Margera on Twitter:
I just lost my best friend, I have been crying hysterical for a full day and piece of sh** roger ebert has the gall to put in his 2 cents
About a jackass drunk driving and his is one, f*** you! Millions of people are crying right now, shut your fat f****** mouth!
(Censorship mine).
By the way, if you’re thinking of actually going to Margera’s Twitter feed, be advised that it’s, as one might expect, absolutely filthy. You’ve been warned.
Ebert’s Facebook page was quickly taken down for “violating terms and conditions.” Then, when Ebert complained, Facebook reinstated it and said that it had been “taken down in error.”
So, did Ebert jump the gun in criticizing Dunn so quickly? Gossip blogger Perez Hilton is in the camp who says Ebert went too far. Ebert:
“Perez Hilton’s readers agree with me,” he later wrote on Twitter. “He drank, he drove, 2 people died.”
Ebert writes about the controversy in the Chicago Sun Times. Whicj leads me to conclude, if you have to devote an entire column to explaining one of your tweets, perhaps you shouldn’t have tweeted in the first place.
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Roger Ebert faces backlash from Ryan Dunn’s friend Bam Margera over tweet, Facebook page taken down [New York Daily News]
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- trbowman - Jun 21, 2011 at 2:16 PM
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Viva la Bam
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- goforthanddie - Jun 21, 2011 at 3:39 PM
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F*** Bam. I’m supposed to feel bad about some idiot drunk-driving himself to the grave?
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- microwave96 - Jun 21, 2011 at 5:12 PM
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how can you say that after anyone has died.
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- goforthanddie - Jun 21, 2011 at 10:06 PM
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Where was Bam’s outrage over the other 1000s of people killed by drunk drivers? Where was his outrage for his buddy’s VICTIM? Oh, he doesn’t give two ***** about anybody but poor Bam.
And how anyone can feel bad for a drunk driver killing himself is beyond me. As far as I’m concerned, drunk driving = attempted murder. As long as they don’t hurt anyone but themselves, I consider a drunk-driving death more proof Darwin was right.
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- jessicamarie84 - Jun 21, 2011 at 10:54 PM
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You guys are all jerks. Bam is human just like all of us, he is devestated about his friend. Imagine ur mom or someone you love dying and that day someone is bashing them, all we know Ryan dunn as is a public figure but to bam that’s his family, his right hand man. you bash my family, even if they were drug addicts we would go to war. I agree that sometimes people make bad choices and Ryan dunn is entitled to them just like us. It’s sad he died and so did his passenger but you know he was drinking, you don’t know how much or how intoxicated he was. Everyone goes on tabloids, in the beginning people were saying knoxville was with him, that was wrong. You were not in the car, you were not the cop on seen nor the coroner. Let his family and friends grief…. and don’t say f*** bam, he may not have labor jobs like all of us but he makes a living off of making others smile and enjoying life….. he works just as hard, with worse hours and barely any sleep. That man is heart broken, let him be. I have seen jackass, wild boys, and the love show he did wit his wife…… if you have seen any of them you know he is a regular guy like any of us, so for once let’s actually have some sympathy, cuz I’m sitting next to my best friend and he will be attending his best friends funeral. And ebert whatever his name is, is heartless. state ur opinion all you want but keep it simple without bashing and next time let’s let everyone here the horrible news before you put in your 2cents!!!!!!!
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- kyleortonsarm - Jun 22, 2011 at 12:39 AM
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Totally agree. When I first heard that Ryan Dunn died I said to myself, “Who the hell?” and proceeded to check Wikipedia, scrolled down and saw his body of work was mostly Jackass and stopped caring. I think it’s better for the world that he’s gone so that he has no opportunity to reproduce and pass on his DNA. I would hardly call this a celebrity death, but let’s hope it is so the celebrity Rule of Three would come into effect and we can knock off a couple more of these JackAss Morons. Thankfully he only killed himself and some other guy with him instead of what could have happened. What if he would have hit a school bus or a ran into sober pedestrians on the street. I’m glad he’s in hell right now instead of on the road where he is apparently a weapon of mass destruction behind the wheel waiting to kill people like you and I who are just minding our own business, walking home with our significant other after a nice dinner, or on our way to see someone special.
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- drmonkeyarmy - Jun 22, 2011 at 2:46 PM
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Obviously you are not familiar with the area. Don’t think children go to school at 3 am and pedestrians generally don’t walk down 322. Furthermore, your post is tactless and shows how the real jackass is.
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- cleanslaton - Jun 21, 2011 at 4:57 PM
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Ebert should amend his tweet to say, ‘Friends don’t let Jackasses drink and drive, unless it’s Bam Margera.’
Bam’s best friend KILLED himself and another person; Dunn will be missed & Ebert could’ve been more eloquent with his anti-drunk driving statement–but the dude is still right. Bam comes off as a dunce on TV, so I’m not surprised that the point would be lost on someone too dumb to process the point of what Ebert said. He doesn’t get that thousands of people that he doesn’t know have died because of the same selfish, idiotic decision to drive drunk. Still, Margera wants to take it personally, when instead he should reflect Ebert’s sentiment–to inspire keeping others from dying and people like him from having to grieve.
What a shame; it should’ve been Bam in that Porsche.
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- sasquash20 - Jun 21, 2011 at 5:42 PM
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Your a POS. F-off jerk
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- twindaddy - Jun 22, 2011 at 1:19 PM
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You apparently don’t want to see the truth. Ebert is right. Drinking and driving is stupid. If Dunn hadn’t done it we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Two people died because if his selfish and ignorant actions.
Stupid. Just stupid.
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- kaylalewisftw - Jun 21, 2011 at 5:08 PM
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I am a victim of a drink and drive accident and barely got out alive with permanent damage. Although, I feel it is a shame that people will have no sympathy and slander a passed soul. He had a life, it is gone now. It is his fault, but don’t sit around and poke fun the same day it happened. People miss him, they are still hurting, some obviously more than others. We all had a feeling Bam would react badly, it IS his best friend after all. I honestly would have reacted the same way if my best friend was gone forever and a person publicly bashed it like it was some joke. All I’m saying is; no matter what happened, or who’s to blame, GOOD LORD just have some sympathy.
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- sasquash20 - Jun 21, 2011 at 5:44 PM
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How can you vote thumbs down to that?
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- drmonkeyarmy - Jun 21, 2011 at 6:01 PM
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Well said Kayla.
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- goforthanddie - Jun 22, 2011 at 1:36 AM
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I haven’t seen anyone “poking fun”. What I’ve seen is people who are fed the Hell up w/ drunk driving and wondering why we should have the slightest bit of sympathy for him. Death isn’t funny, neither is getting ripped and running your Porsche at 100mph. This idiot made a living acting like a Jackass, and he died like a Jackass.
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- drmonkeyarmy - Jun 21, 2011 at 6:00 PM
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Once again, everybody is making an assumption that he was drunk. Please, somebody mention the excessive rate of speed. That is the one KNOWN cause of the accident at this point in time. Furthermore, these guys might come off as dunce’s but I give them credit. They parlayed their lack of intelligence into a successful career. Their is something to be said of that. It doesn’t matter if Ebert is right or not. Why stick your nose into it?
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- twindaddy - Jun 22, 2011 at 1:21 PM
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Answer your own question. You just stuck your nose in it.
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- drmonkeyarmy - Jun 22, 2011 at 2:47 PM
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I am some guy on a message board. I am not a quasi celebrity running my mouth on twitter. There is a difference.
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- kansas1977 - Jun 21, 2011 at 7:20 PM
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Someone should take celebrity’s iphones away from them while they’re grieving. Ebert’s comments are tasteless, but the fact remains that Dunn killed a guy with his criminal behavior. You have to wonder what the friends and family of the passenger are feeling when they see nothing in the media but expressions of loss and sadness for the man who killed their friend and son. Ultimately, not many of us will disagree with Ebert’s message, even if we question the timing. Dunn lived his life in a certain manner that put others at risk, and it’s probably a good thing that in the middle of all this sadness at his passing there’s also a good dose of reality. He was a funny guy, an entertainer, but he was definitely not a role model, and the example he set in the end was his most important–don’t act like me or it will cost you and maybe others as well
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- drmonkeyarmy - Jun 21, 2011 at 8:29 PM
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Well said Kansas.
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- skzig - Jun 21, 2011 at 9:02 PM
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Where I agree drunk driving is insanely stupid, nobody knows any facts yet. Also, people who knowingly get into a car with someone who is drunk are just as responsible as those behind the wheel. I grieve for both of them. It is a tragic ACCIDENT. If there is something to be learned with Ryan Dunn’s death , let us all act like decent human beings and allow some heeling before we all pile on to this. After all, someone who acts like a goofball on T.V. isn’t the only bad influence. So are people who post insensitive comments in the wake of a death!
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- etc4779 - Jun 22, 2011 at 9:47 AM
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The only reason they say he was drinking is because he tweeted a PICTURE OF HIM WITH HIS FREINDS DRINKING. Good lord!! Read the article before you start with this, “no one knew if he was drinking” crap. Whether or not he was drunk is obsolete. He was in a movie called Jackass, and that is the only thing he has done in his life…..and I am supposed to have some ounce of remorse for this guy? I am just glad that kids growing up emulating this guy might have a reality check and realize being a Jackass isn’t all that its cracked up to be. While I dont really care of Ebert’s comments, you can’t say that a majority of people who saw this story are pretty much saying, “what a Jackass”.
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- goforthanddie - Jun 22, 2011 at 6:12 PM
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Driving 140mph. BAC over twice the legal limit. Anybody still want to defend this dipstick?
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- etc4779 - Jun 22, 2011 at 10:50 PM
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Anyone who defends this is just blind. I understand family and friends greving for this guy, but come on, lets have some common sense.
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- sasquash20 - Jun 23, 2011 at 12:58 AM
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Not defending Dunn, but against what Ebert said. Clearly Dunn’s carelessness cost him and his friend there life. To try and make that out to be funny in any way is just classless. Ebert should know better.
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- depechegirl77 - Feb 5, 2012 at 2:38 AM
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damn, you people are harsh. bet you claim to be christian too. real nice. hope someone talks about you or your loved one this way someday.
