LOS ANGELES - Wrestler-turned-actor John Cena has come under fire on social media, after making a tweet that seemed to use the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine to promote his HBO Max television show, Peacemaker.
Cena, 44, had made a tweet on Thursday night (Feb 25) saying, "If I could somehow summon the powers of a real life #Peacemaker I think this would be a great time to do so."
His Peacemaker character has been described as a vigilante determined to achieve peace at any cost.
Many users pointed to his use of the hashtag - a sponsored hashtag that loads a custom Peacemaker emoji when used on Twitter - as being suspect.
"Would've been fine without the hashtag," said one person.
"I understand the sentiment but using this moment to plug the show is a bit... bleh," wrote another user.
Another comment was, "Why are you using a war to advertise a show?"
Others said that Cena, who has 13.5 million followers on Twitter, could have used his platform in a more productive way.
"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," said one person.
Some also pointed out that Cena's words didn't make sense anyway, given that Peacemaker is a morally ambiguous character, having started as a secondary antagonist in film-maker James Gunn's Suicide Squad movie (2021) before receiving his own spin-off show on HBO Max - where he remains both jingoistic and homidical.
"John, this is in poor taste. Also your character is not the good guy," one netizen said.
Cena did not directly respond to the backlash. But he did tweet on Saturday night: "Sometimes the most productive choice is to rest. Disconnect. Take time off."
Just last May, Cena caused another fracas on social media - albeit among fans in China - when he referred to Taiwan as a "country". He later apologised in Mandarin.
