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Russell Simmons is without doubt a pioneer in the world of Hip-Hop, but someone needs to get Uncle Rush away from social media for a bit. The mogul blasted out a tweet in condolences for former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who died this weekend, apparently confusing him with Israel’s current president Shimon Peres and sparking some criticism.

Simmons sent out the tweet to his 3 million-plus followers Saturday (January 11) evening that sent ripples around the world.

“R.I.P. my friend Ariel Sharon great pleasure working with you.. special occasions, your work to promote tolerance was inspiring,” Simmons tweeted. After getting some heat for the tweet, Simmons deleted the message and explained himself in curious fashion.

“Confused Ariel Sharon with longtime friend, Shimon Peres. Certainly was no fan of Sharon. Sorry for mistake. I deleted tweet,” he explained.

“On stair master…a little light headed. confused ariel sharon with longtime friend, shimon peres. sadly sharon promoted war, not peace,” Simmons added later.

Naturally, Twitter refused to chill and gave Simmons the business. Nathan Wurtzel, who according to his Twitter bio is a “Republican political guy,” fired a shot at Simmons by sarcastically tweeting, “Totally understand, man. Us Jews all look alike.”

Writer and humorist Sanaa Saeed also checked Simmons for his tweet by asking, “I’d love to know what work to promote tolerance Peres has done,” she asked.

Some critics of Sharon, a former war general in Israel, point to his ordering of the reported slaughter of Palestinians during his time in power. President Peres and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas entered into  U.S.-brokered peace talks last year to end conflict between the countries.

Hit the flip to see the tweets from Russell Simmons and some of the ribbing he suffered as a result.


Photos: Instagram, Twitter
