Mark Duplass criticized for defending conservative pundit Ben Shapiro in since-deleted tweet
Mark Duplass has deleted a tweet voicing support for conservative commentator Ben Shapiro after receiving backlash.
The actor, director, and producer — who is best known for The League as well as producing the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country with his brother, Transparent star Jay Duplass — shared the tweet on Wednesday.
“Fellow liberals: If you are interested at all in ‘crossing the aisle,’ you should consider following @benshapiro,” the tweet read. “I don’t agree with him on much but he’s a genuine person who once helped me for no other reason than to be nice. He doesn’t bend the truth. His intentions are good.”
Shapiro is a podcaster, columnist, radio host, and editor in chief of conservative news outlet the Daily Wire. He is critical of climate change and abortion, and has made controversial statements comparing being transgender to having a “psychological disorder.”
Perhaps it’s not surprising, then, that many of Duplass’s “fellow liberals” were offended by his suggestion to give Shapiro the benefit of the doubt. Some accused him of white privilege, others of being naive.
Hey @MarkDuplass and other liberal celebrities PLEASE stop doing this. He delights in bending the truth. His intentions are not at all good. pic.twitter.com/EwC4yMo4gI
— Slade (@Slade) July 18, 2018
I do recommend that @MarkDuplass read this beautiful debunking of Shapiro's faux intellectualism: https://t.co/C9lYwm4V8n
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) July 18, 2018
I'm going to stick to assessing him based on his long history of grossly divisive political rhetoric rather than assessing him because a celebrity said he was nice to him, thanks.
— Tom & Lorenzo (@tomandlorenzo) July 18, 2018
You're getting a lot of this but I hope you really look into what he thinks and what he says and how he says it and how he presents issues. Here's another one for the pile. pic.twitter.com/LICiZGmBvg
— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) July 18, 2018
actually he's a disgusting racist piece of shit
— Rob Rousseau (@robrousseau) July 18, 2018
Whew chile… the whiteness https://t.co/6XgEYf3jJB
— Ira (@ira) July 18, 2018
Duplass did have his defenders, with some — including director James Gunn of Guardians of the Galaxy fame — arguing that Shapiro’s critics are misplacing their outrage.
Not everyone can be right all the time about everything, and, if you think that's possible, then eventually you're going to be standing by yourself, "right," but alone. 2
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 18, 2018
Mark Duplass tweeting how you should follow an asshole because he thinks it's the kind thing to do simply can't be the bar for moral outrage.
Have a good day. 4/END
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 18, 2018
Shapiro responded to Gunn’s message with a retweet — and an insult.
I never said I wasn’t an a**hole. I said you were wrong about following me. For example, you’re an a**hole and I don’t mind if people follow you. https://t.co/Inys5QTYre
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 19, 2018
On Thursday morning Duplass issued a statement apologizing for his tweet, which he called a “disaster.” He did, however, reiterate his eagerness to foster “bi-partisan understanding.”
— Mark Duplass (@MarkDuplass) July 19, 2018
This article has been updated to include Duplass’s statement.
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