Russell Simmons. 'Certainly was no fan of Sharon'
Photo: MCT/ ANTOINE CAU
Hip hop producer confuses Sharon with Peres
American business magnate Russell Simmons tweets, 'R.I.P. my friend Ariel Sharon. Your work to promote tolerance was inspiring.' Following angry comments, he says thought he was eulogizing Shimon Peres
God is in the details. Someone should have said that to American business magnate Russell Simmons, co-founder of hip hop music label Def Jam, who joined world leaders in eulogizing late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Or so he thought.
"R.I.P. my friend Ariel Sharon," Simmons wrote Saturday on Twitter, several hours after the former prime minister's death was announced. "Great pleasure working with you… special occasions. Your work to promote tolerance was inspiring."
Simmons eulogizes his 'friend' Sharon on Twitter
But several hours later, after receiving quite a few angry comments (including some mentioning the names of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein), the hip hop producer realized that the person he had eulogized was not exactly the symbol of tolerance he thought he was – and in fact, wasn't even the Israeli leader he was referring to.
In a following tweet, Russell explained his mistake: "Confused Ariel Sharon with longtime friend, Shimon Peres. Sadly Sharon promoted war, not peace."
He later added, "Certainly was no fan of Sharon. Sorry for mistake. I deleted tweet."
Russell Simmons is one of the biggest contributors to the rap culture in the United States, and is considered one of the richest and strongest people in the hip hop industry. He has been dedicating much of his time in the past few decades to social activity in different areas, including animal rights, gay rights and environmental issues.
