Daily Times

Susan Sarandon has apologized for her controversial comments about a NYPD officer’s funeral, following a backlash.

“I deeply regret the meme I recently shared on Twitter that included a photo of Officer Jason Rivera’s funeral,” Sarandon wrote on Feb. 4. “I reacted quickly to the picture without connecting it to a police funeral and I realize now how insensitive and deeply disrespectful it was to make that point at that time.”

The Monarch star continued, “I sincerely apologize to the family of Officers Rivera and Mora for causing additional pain during their time of grieving.”

In her now-deleted tweet, Sarandon had shared a post from journalist Danny Haiphong that included a photo of thousands of police officers lined down Manhattan’s 5th Avenue in honor of Rivera, who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic dispute call. He had captioned the pic, “I’m gonna tell my kids this is what fascism looks like.”

Sarandon added the comment, “So, if all these cops weren’t needed for CRIME that day, doesn’t that mean they aren’t needed ANY day?”

The Thelma & Louise actress’ comments quickly sparked backlash online from police unions, including The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York.

“This is what privilege looks like: a wealthy actress, safe in her bubble, mocking heroes & making light of the crisis that cops are battling alongside our communities,” the PBA tweeted. “NYC is uniting to stop the violence – @SusanSarandon is living on a different planet.”

However, some maintained that Sarandon need not apologize for her remarks, including one follower who replied to her apology and added, “You did nothing wrong.” Another shared, “Take this down Susan. You were 100 percent right the first time.”