CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta apologized on Friday for saying “F– You” to a Twitter user in a direct message. In a tweet, Acosta said he had confused the person for an old friend. 
 
 “Hey buddy I thought you were an old friend from the campaign days. I’m so sorry. Hope I didn’t offend you. Have a good night and take care,” he said. 
 
 Hey buddy I thought you were an old friend from the campaign days. I’m so sorry. Hope I didn’t offend you. Have a good night and take care. https://t.co/4u9fj1BNPI — Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 19, 2018 
 
 Also Read: Jim Acosta to Haters: 'I'm Allowed to Care About This Country' (Video) 
 
 The imbroglio began after Justin Caporale, a GOP consultant and former aide to first lady Melania Trump, attempted to troll Acosta after the CNN reporter complained about loud music at a Trump campaign rally he was covering. 
 
 “Tonight the Trump campaign/WH turned up the music so loud the press risers were vibrating,” said Acosta. “Nearly impossible to do live TV. I suppose the WH loves those kinds of shenanigans. But I wonder if it’s a security concern for USSS or local law enforcement. They can’t hear either.” 
 
 “Dear Diary…..” mocked Caporale. 
 
 Dear Diary….. — justin (@justincap_) October 19, 2018 
 
 That resulted in Acosta sending Caporale a private direct message with a blunt two word rejoinder before subsequently blocking him. Daily Caller reporter Peter Hasson, who was allowed access into Caporale’s Twitter account, confirmed that the message was real and offered by Acosta unsolicited. 
 
 And then he blocked me. pic.twitter.com/F5cq84LAF8 — justin (@justincap_) October 19, 2018 
 
 It’s unclear why Acosta would move to immediately block someone he thought was an “old friend.” Acosta did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap. Reps for CNN declined to comment. Reached by phone, Caporale also declined to comment. 
 
 Acosta has long been a lightning rod among Trump-die hards and a frequent jousting partner for the president at press events. Trump has disparaged him to his face on live television as fake news. When Sarah Sanders held more regular press briefings, her sharp exchanges with the CNN reporter also frequently made headlines. ||||| A direct message sent by CNN Chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta was widely mocked by conservatives late Thursday night. 
 
 It all began with a tweet Acosta made from President Donald Trump‘s rally in Missoula, Montana. 
 
 Tonight the Trump campaign/WH turned up the music so loud the press risers were vibrating. Nearly impossible to do live TV. I suppose the WH loves those kinds of shenanigans. But I wonder if it’s a security concern for USSS or local law enforcement. They can’t hear either. — Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 19, 2018 
 
 And Justin Caporale — identified as the former director of operations for Melania Trump — trolled him with the following response: 
 
 Dear Diary….. — justin (@justincap_) October 19, 2018 
 
 Well, that apparently got under Acosta’s skin since Justin followed up the tweet with a screenshot from his DMs. 
 
 “F**k you,” Acosta told Justin. 
 
 Peter Hasson verified that the DM was real. 
 
 Can confirm that this is a real message: https://t.co/MNHvM5xDcJ — Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) October 19, 2018 
 
 .@justincap_ allowed me to log into his account and view the message. Here’s a screenshot I took pic.twitter.com/r4F6EpbQAH — Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) October 19, 2018 
 
 And conservatives had some fun at the expense of the CNN journalist. 
 
 Jim: Coke please. Waiter: Is Pepsi okay? Jim: pic.twitter.com/KYWUmCFp2C — Matt’s Idea Shop (@MattsIdeaShop) October 19, 2018 
 
 UPDATE (2:15AM): Acosta offered this apology to Justin, telling him he thought he was an “old friend from the campaign days.” 
 
 Hey buddy I thought you were an old friend from the campaign days. I’m so sorry. Hope I didn’t offend you. Have a good night and take care. https://t.co/4u9fj1BNPI — Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 19, 2018 
 
 [image via screengrab] 
 
 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2018 file photo, CNN correspondent Jim Acosta does a stand up before the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington. The White House on Wednesday suspended the press... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2018 file photo, CNN correspondent Jim Acosta does a stand up before the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington. The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Donald Trump had a heated confrontation... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2018 file photo, CNN correspondent Jim Acosta does a stand up before the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington. The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Donald Trump had a heated confrontation... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2018 file photo, CNN correspondent Jim Acosta does a stand up before the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington. The White House on Wednesday suspended the press... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — A video distributed by the Trump administration to support its argument for banning CNN reporter Jim Acosta from the White House appears to have been doctored to make Acosta look more aggressive than he was during an exchange with a White House intern, an independent expert said Thursday. 
 
 White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted the video, which shows Acosta asking President Donald Trump a question on Wednesday as the intern tries to take his microphone away. But a frame-by-frame comparison with an Associated Press video of the same incident shows that the one tweeted by Sanders appears to have been altered to speed up Acosta's arm movement as he touches the intern's arm, according to Abba Shapiro, an independent video producer who examined the footage at AP's request. 
 
 Earlier, Shapiro noticed that frames in the tweeted video were frozen to slow down the action, allowing it to run the same length as the AP one. 
 
 The alteration is "too precise to be an accident," said Shapiro, who trains instructors to use video editing software. The tweeted video also does not have any audio, which Shapiro said would make it easier to alter. 
 
 Sanders, who hasn't said where the tweeted video came from, noted that it clearly shows Acosta made contact with the intern. 
 
 While the origin of the manipulated video is unclear, its distribution marked a new low for an administration that has been criticized for its willingness to mislead. 
 
 The White House News Photographers Association decried the sharing of the footage. 
 
 "As visual journalists, we know that manipulating images is manipulating truth," said Whitney Shefte, the association's president. "It's deceptive, dangerous and unethical. Knowingly sharing manipulated images is equally problematic, particularly when the person sharing them is a representative of our country's highest office with vast influence over public opinion." 
 
 CNN has labeled Sanders' characterization of Acosta's exchange with the intern as a lie. Its position has been supported by witnesses including Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason, who was next to Acosta during the news conference and tweeted that he did not see Acosta place his hands on the White House employee. Rather, he said he saw him holding on to the microphone as she reached for it. 
 
 "The irony of this White House video involving Jim Acosta is that if it is found to be doctored, it will show the administration to be doing what it accuses the news media of doing — engaging in fake information," said Aly Colon, a professor in journalism ethics at Washington & Lee University. 
 
 Several journalists and organizations — including the American Society of News Editors, the Associated Press Media Editors and the Online News Association — demanded Acosta's press pass be reinstated. 
 
 "It is the essential function of a free press in every democracy to independently gather and report information in the public interest, a right that is enshrined in the First Amendment," said Julie Pace, AP's Washington bureau chief. "We strongly reject the idea that any administration would block a journalist's access to the White House." 
 
 The New York Times editorialized in favor of restoring Acosta's pass, saying it signaled Trump's view that asking hard questions disqualifies reporters from attending briefings. The newspaper said that if Sanders was so offended by physical contact, "what did she have to say when her boss praised as 'my kind of guy' Rep. Greg Gianforte of Montana, who was sentenced to anger management classes and community service for body-slamming a Guardian reporter last spring?" 
 
 CNN has been a frequent target of the president, who has characterized journalists as enemies of the people and who routinely accuses the mainstream media of spreading "fake news." And Acosta has been one of the more visible thorns in the side of the White House. During their verbal altercation on Wednesday, Trump called Acosta a "terrible person." 
 
 Still, it's rare for the White House to pull the so-called hard passes from journalists. 
 
 During Lyndon Johnson's presidency, the Secret Service denied clearance to Robert Sherrill, a reporter for The Nation who had gotten into physical fights with government officials. During the George W. Bush presidency, Trude Feldman, who worked for various news outlets, was suspended for 90 days after security cameras recorded her looking through a press aide's desk late one night. In the 1970s, President Nixon tried to get Washington Post reporters banned from the White House. 
 
 Despite losing his White House pass, Acosta is expected to travel to Paris this weekend to cover Trump's trip to meet with world leaders. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Calvin Woodward reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Jill Colvin, Catherine Lucey, Zeke Miller, Tami Abdollah, Padmananda Rama and Deb Reichmann contributed from Washington.
– One of the reporters who tangles publicly with President Trump the most is himself in a bit of hot water over a tweet. Jim Acosta of CNN has apologized after tweeting "f--- you" (except he spelled it out) to a critic, reports Mediaite. Acosta also maintains that he mistook the person as an old friend, but not everyone is buying that. It all started Thursday night when Acosta tweeted a complaint that the Trump campaign turned up the music so loudly at a Trump rally that it was difficult to work—the implication being that it was deliberate. At that point, a former aide for Melania Trump, Justin Caporale, mocked Acosta with a tweet reading, "Dear Diary ..." That's when Acosta sent his controversial response—he did so in a private direct message, but Caporale then made it public. Acosta also blocked Caporale. As online criticism grew, and Caporale demanded an apology, Acosta responded: "Hey buddy I thought you were an old friend from the campaign days. I’m so sorry. Hope I didn’t offend you. Have a good night and take care." As the Wrap notes, the apology seems a bit odd given that Acosta also blocked Caporale, raising the question of why he would block a friend. Neither Acosta nor CNN has commented further. (Acosta also once tangled memorably with White House aide Stephen Miller.)