Hollywood actor John Cena, an who infamously apologized in Mandarin calling Taiwan a country, has been taking a beating on social media for using Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to promote his HBO show Peacemaker.
“If I could somehow summon the powers of a real-life #Peacemaker I think this would be a great time to do so,” Cena tweeted.
If I could somehow summon the powers of a real life #Peacemaker I think this would be a great time to do so.
— John Cena (@JohnCena) February 24, 2022
Cena has often promoted his show Peacemaker, a character that appeared in director James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, using the hashtag along with an emoji signifying the character’s helmet.
Just learned from the good folks at @hbomax that the #PEACEMAKER finale had the biggest single day performance for a Max Original series and was up 44% over the premiere episode! That is a F#CKLOAD of ✌️ and does not happen without ALL OF YOU! Truly grateful. Ready for Season ✌️!
— John Cena (@JohnCena) February 18, 2022
Watch below:
Cena garnered no praise for using the international crisis as a chance to plug his show.
I feel like I shouldn’t have to explain this to you but the power of peacemaker is murdering people https://t.co/VAIrGJeMuk
— Sam Haft (@SamHaft) February 24, 2022
I’m just saying there is never an appropriate moment to say this, especially now.
— Not that Asian dude 🙃 (@geesubay) February 24, 2022
cant believe you tweeted this
— AverageHarry (@harrynotaverage) February 24, 2022
Bad time to promote a fucking tv show. Please delete this. People are dying.
— Darcy Tustin #Comics💭 (@DarcyTustin) February 24, 2022
This is not the right thing to tweet at this time
— Wesley is seeing The Batman in 5 DAYS (@iamtheknight92) February 24, 2022
In May of last year, John Cena was excoriated by both the left and the right when he issued a groveling apology to China on the country’s social network Weibo (in Mandarin) for having referred to Taiwan as an independent country in a previous interview. The apology was largely interpreted as an effort to better F9‘s box office potential in the country:
Hi China, I’m John Cena. I’m in the middle of Fast and Furious 9 promotions. I’m doing a lot of interviews. I made a mistake in one of my interviews. Everyone was asking me if I could use Chinese – [movie] staff gave me a lot of information, so there was a lot of interviews and information. I made one mistake. I have to say something very, very, very important now. I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry about my mistake. I apologize, I apologize, I’m very sorry. You must understand that I really love, really respect China and the Chinese people. My apologies. See you.
Watch below:
Cena’s apology made little difference and F9 flopped in China after nosedived by 85 percent in its second weekend of release.
After two laps, the Vin Diesel/John Cena action flick has totaled $185.3 million. That’s slightly ahead of where franchise spinoff Hobbs & Shaw was sitting at a similar point in its China run, but far weaker than the preceding franchise mainstays Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious,” The Hollywood Reporter (THR) noted at the time.
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