Cinnabon Issues Apology For Carrie Fisher Tweet

Fast-food treat franchise Cinnabon has issued an apology for a tweet posted yesterday that offended thousands of Star Wars fans online.

Hours after actress Carrie Fisher passed away, Cinnabon shared what most responses judged as an insensitive and inappropriate tweet about her death.

In a tweet that has since been deleted, Cinnabon wrote "RIP Carrie Fisher, you'll always have the best buns in the galaxy." The company accompanied the tweet with a photo of a cinnamon roll surrounded by cinnamon that had been shaped to look like Fisher, with the roll itself in place of Fisher's iconic hairstyle as Princess Leia from Star Wars.

The tweet was actually a recycled image from May 4, with new text to acknowledge the actress's passing.

The backlash was immediate and intense, so while Cinnabon acted quickly to remove the offending tweet, Twitter users had already taken screenshots of the image.

In the response, posted at about 11 p.m. ET, apologized for the tweet, clarifying that it was meant as a tribute, but acknowledging that it was in poor taste:

Our deleted tweet was genuinely meant as a tribute, but we shouldn't have posted it. We are truly sorry.

— Cinnabon (@Cinnabon) December 28, 2016

Fisher portrayed Princess (General) Leia Organa Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and went on to reprise her role in last year's Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Her final performance as Leia will be seen in Star Wars: Episode VIII in 2017.

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