Getty ImagesWhile much of the Twitterverse was busy commenting on the Golden Globes on Sunday, things took a religious turn on the social media site after Rupert Murdoch posted a number of controversial comments about the Muslim community.
"Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible," he wrote (and yes, that is his own spelling error) before adding, "Big jihadist danger looming everywhere from Philippines to Africa to Europe to US. Political correctness makes for denial and hypocrisy."
The 83-year-old media boss' remarks were posted just two days after 12 people were shot to death in Paris in a terrorist attack at the office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo (the paper had been the target of threats in the past for publishing cartoons spoofing militant Islam).
Shortly after his commentary began making headlines, author J.K. Rowling and comedian Aziz Ansari caught wind of Murdoch's eyebrow-raising claims—and the two simply couldn't remain silent on social media.
"I was born Christian. If that makes Rupert Murdoch my responsibility, I'll auto-excommunicate," the Harry Potter author captioned a tweet with a link to an article on the Guardian titled, "Murdoch Says Muslims Must Be Held Responsible for French Terror Attacks."
She continued, infusing her subsequent tweet with the perfect amount of sass. "The Spanish Inquisition was my fault, as is all Christian fundamentalist violence. Oh, and Jim Bakker," she wrote.
And in case that wasn't enough to drive her point home, she also posted a link to a surprising study on terrorism, "Eight times more Muslims have been killed by so-called Islamic terrorists than non-Muslims."
Likewise, Ansari slammed the Australian businessman and accused him of spreading "ignorance."
"Rups can we get a step by step guide? How can my 60 year old parents in NC help destroy terrorist groups? Plz advise," he wrote. "Are you responsible for the evil s--t all Christians do or just the insane amount of evil you yourself contribute to?"
Of course, the comedian didn't stop there, and he went on to blame Murdoch for a number of religious scandals with the brilliant hashtag, #RupertsFault.
"You are Catholic, why are you not hunting pedophiles? #RupertsFault," he tweeted. "@rupertmurdoch is Christian just like Mark David Chapman who shot John Lennon. Why didn't Rupert stop it? #RupertsFault."
"To be clear, I am not religious and have nothing against Christians or Muslims," he continued. "Just ignorance like what @rupertmurdoch is spreading."
Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long before the hashtag picked up steam, and Ansari proceeded to retweet a number of hilarious posts from his followers.
Kirk Cameron movies #RupertsFault
? Julian Boisse (@2phonesmacabee) January 12, 2015@azizansari Hitler was raised Catholic. Holocaust = #RupertsFault
? Christopher Kelly. (@Asssouls) January 12, 2015Chick fil A not being open on Sundays. #RupertsFault
? Phillip Barry (@PhilBarrryyy) January 12, 2015Westboro Baptist Church. #RupertsFault
— Prashant (@busybee) January 12, 2015To sum up Ansari's thoughts:
.@rupertmurdoch, you're already a vaguely evil media conglomerate guy and THEN you're ALSO racist? FOR REAL?! You're an evil overachiever!
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) January 12, 2015