Zac Efron Just Showed the World Exactly How Not to Celebrate MLK Day

Impact

Open Instamouth, insert Instafoot.

On Monday, actor Zac Efron tweeted that he was grateful for two things: Martin Luther King Jr., and 10 million Instagram followers. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrates and commemorates the life of Dr. King, who was born on Jan. 15, 1929, and is widely regarded as the father of the civil rights movement in the United States. In 1968, the freedom fighter was assassinated for his activism.

Which is all to say, Efron's decision to draw a parallel between King's life and Efron's own number of Instagram followers was not taken well by many of the twitterati. 

And, to make matters worse, Efron followed his tweet with two black hand emojis, one of which is emblematic of the black power fist. 

Memorializing the life of one of the most celebrated freedom fighters while at the same time celebrating one's own social media milestone is a surefire way to watch those followers drop off.  

However, after ample social media backlash, by late Tuesday Efron tweeted an apology, saying his previous post had been insensitive. He also posted an apology on Instagram. 

Jan. 19, 2016, 5:43 p.m.: This story has been updated.