John Cena has been met with fierce backlash for appearing to use Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to promote his Peacemaker TV show.
The WWE legend has been criticised for a ‘tone deaf’ tweet referencing the titular character from his HBO series, who debuted on screen in James Gunn’s 2021 film ‘The Suicide Squad’ and is known for being brash and jingoistic while remaining committed to peace at any cost.
Hours after news emerged that Russia had invaded Ukraine, he tweeted: ‘If I could somehow summon the powers of a real life #Peacemaker, I think this would be a great time to do so.’
Many fans slammed the actor for his tweet, particularly given that it included a sponsored hashtag for the show.
One person responded: ‘I’m just saying there is never an appropriate moment to say this, especially now.’
‘Bad time to promote a f***ing tv show. Please delete this. People are dying,’ another tweep wrote, as a different person added: ‘Great time to hashtag your show for trending purposes. Very insensitive don’t you think?’
One tweep commented on the ‘tone deafness’ of the post, and another urged him to donate money to help Ukraine.
They said: ‘I hope you didn’t mean to come off as disrespectful by using this to promote your show . You don’t have the powers of peacemaker but you do have the power of money and status. Please donate to help Ukraine or spread the link to donate.’
And yet another tweep tweeted: ‘I understand the sentiment but using this moment to plug the show is a bit… bleh.’
Cena is yet to respond to the backlash.
