For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Richard Herring has incurred the wrath of Twitter users after posting a perhaps ill-advised joke about the death of Robin Williams .
The actor was found dead in an apparent suicide yesterday (11 August). His publicist confirmed that he had been suffering from severe depression.
Herring unsurprisingly managed to offend droves of social media users after he shared a series of tweets about Williams, starting with a reference about Patch Adams, one of the characters Williams played in the film of the same name.
Adams was a medical student who helped his patients by using humour.
“As upsetting as this year has been I am wondering if God is finally handing out divine judgement for Patch Adams,” tweeted Herring.
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014Show all 25 1 /25In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Mrs Doubtfire Robin Williams with Sally Field in Mrs Doubtfire
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Oscar He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 'Good Will Hunting' in 1997
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Mork and Mindy In Mork and Mindy, the TV series that launched his career in the 1970s
Rex
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 The Tonight Show On 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' in 2004. Williams was renowned for his hyperactive appearances on talk shows
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Williams' hand and footprint ceremony Williams with two of his children, Cody (centre) and Zelda, and his wife, Marsha, during his hand and footprint ceremony outside the Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood in 1998
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Premiere of Old Dogs Robin Williams and his wife Susan Schneider at the premiere of "Old Dogs" in Los Angeles on 9 November 2009
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Tour de France US cyclist Lance Armstrong chatting with US actor Robin Williams after he won the 91st Tour de France cycling race between Valreas and Villard-de-Lans on 20 July 2004
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Annual People's Choice Awards Presenter Robin Williams speaks during the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on 7 January 2009 in Los Angeles, California
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 The Big Wedding All star cast: Susan Sarandon, Robert De Niro and Robin Williams star in The Big Wedding
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Building homes Robin Williams Helps Build Homes With Habitat For Humanity, 4 December 2000 in Wilmington
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Premiere of Man of the Year Robin Williams and wife Marsha Garces Williams arriving for the premiere of Universal Pictures "Man of the Year" at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on 4 October 2006
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 CW, CBS And Showtime 2013 Summer TCA Party Robin Williams at the CW, CBS And Showtime 2013 Summer TCA Party on 29 July 2013 in Los Angeles, California
Jason Kempin/Getty Images
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Holiday Troop Visit Robin Williams and US celebrity Lewis Black (L) laughing in the back stage during the entertaining performance of "Holiday Troop Visit" by US celebrities for Christmas at boardwalk stage of the Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan on 16 December 2010
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Andre Agassi's Grand Slam for Children press conference Robin Williams speaks during the Andre Agassi's Grand Slam for Children press conference at the MGM Grand Hotel, 2 October 2004 in Las Vegas, Neveda
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Golden Globe Robin Williams holds his Golden Globe after winning for best actor in a comedy for his role in 'Mrs. Doubtfire' 22 January 1994
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Premiere of Happy Feet Two Robin Williams attends the Premiere of Warner Brothers Pictures' "Happy Feet Two" at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on 13 November 2011 in Hollywood
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Good Will Hunting Matt Damon and Ben Affleck pose with actor Robin Williams with their Oscars they won for 'Good Will Hunting' at the 70th Annual Academy Awards 23 March in Los Angeles
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Mork and Mindy Robin Williams in 1980 with Pam Dawber, his co-star in the Mork and Mindy TV series
Rex
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 The Crazy Ones Robin Williams with his Mork and Mindy co-star Pam Dawber in The Crazy Ones series, 2014
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Yankees versus Pittsburgh Pirates Robin Williams attends a game between the New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates during the Grapefruit League Spring Training game on 13 March 2008 at Legends Field in Tampa, Florida
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Posing Robin Williams poses for a portrait during the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on 7 January 2009 in Los Angeles, California
Michael Caulfield/Getty Images for PCA
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Cecil B. DeMille Award Robin Williams holds his Cecil B. DeMille Award with award presenter Pierce Brosnan at the 62nd annual Golden Globe Awards show 16 January 2005 in Beverly Hills
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Happy Feet Two Robin Williams laughs with Elijah Wood on arrival for the world premiere of the movie 'Happy Feet Two' in Hollywood on 13 November 2011
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 Tony Awards Robin Williams speaks during the 65th Annual Tony Awards at the Beacon Theatre on 12 June 2011 in New York City
Getty
In pictures: Robin Williams 1951 - 2014 AFI Life Achievement Award honoring Mike Nichols Actor Robin Williams speaks on stage during the 38th AFI Life Achievement Award honoring Mike Nichols held at Sony Pictures Studios on 10 June 2010 in Culver City, California
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI
Cue an onslaught of responses who suggested that the ‘joke’ was arguably a “bit soon”. Herring’s 2013 show, ‘We’re All Going To Die’, explored how we feel about death.
But Herring defended himself, arguing that he was just doing his job as a comedian and also noted that the untimely deaths of Williams and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died earlier this year on 2 February following a drugs overdose.
He went onto lament his perceived oversensitivity of social media users.
Herring then finished by joking that he was looking forward to the death of comedian Stewart Lee as he has “some dynamite stuff” already in mind.
The comedian also tweeted a link to a post written for the Metro in March this year, in which he discussed how we “need to talk about death more”.
“I find the way that social media responds to death and disaster mainly bewildering,” he wrote. “If a celebrity dies, it now feels that everyone has to write a post about it, even if they have nothing original to say. It’s like we’re all the prime minister of our own little country and the world would be shocked and appalled if we didn’t make some kind of statement.”
He is the latest high-profile name to have caused controversy with their insensitive take on Williams’ death, with others including TalkSport presenter Alan Brazil and actor Todd Bridges.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies