'Luke Cage' and 'Good Wife' Star Mike Colter Faces Backlash for Ariana Grande Comment

Marvel's Luke Cage actor Mike Colter was criticized for his comments on Bishop Charles H. Ellis [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Marvel's Luke Cage actor Mike Colter was criticized for his comments on Bishop Charles H. Ellis III's groping of Ariana Grande during Aretha Franklin's funeral in Detroit Friday. Colter later deleted the tweet and apologized Sunday morning, before deleting the apology as well.

On Saturday morning, Colter tweeted a video of the incident, adding "Now THIS is how you shoot your shot! Zero FCKS!!" Colter added three tears-of-joy emojis.

After realizing the tweet was in poor taste and the backlash that ensued, Colter apologized and insisted he was being sarcastic.

"Hello all. I apologize about my tweet earlier. In no way do I condone any such behavior. It was intended to point out the absurdity of the act itself. Complete and biting sarcasm," Colter wrote in a now deleted tweet, reports ComicBook.com. "I realized quickly that it was not taken as such. I was at an event all day. Sorry for the delay."

After the initial tweet, Twitter users slammed Colter, bombarding his recent tweets with criticism. Some even included the hashtag "Cancelled."

"The INTERNET IS FOREVER!!!! You are sick," one person wrote, including a screenshot of the original offensive tweet.

"You're trash," another person wrote.

During Franklin's funeral at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Grande performed "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" in memory of the Queen of Soul.

Before she took the stage, Ellis made an awkward joke about Grande's name, saying it sounded like a Taco Bell menu. When Grande approached the podium, Ellis was seen putting his hand around the 25-year-old's chest.

After the funeral service, Ellis issued an apology to Grande in an Associated Press interview.

"It would never be my intention to touch any woman's breast. … I don't know I guess I put my arm around her. Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar but again, I apologize," Ellis said. "The last thing I want to do is to be a distraction to this day. This is all about Aretha Franklin."

Ellis also apologized for his joke about her name.

"I personally and sincerely apologize to Ariana and to her fans and to the whole Hispanic community," Ellis told the Associated Press. "When you're doing a program for nine hours you try to keep it lively, you try to insert some jokes here and there."

Colter is best known for playing Luke Cage in Marvel's Netflix shows, including Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and The Defenders. He also appeared in Girls Trip and played Lemond Bishop on The Good Wife from 2010 to 2015.

Photo credit: Earl Gibson III/WireImage/Getty Images

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