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Walmart under fire for tweet referencing Paul Walker

Paul Walker attends the 'Fast & Furious 6' World Premiere at The Empire, Leicester Square on May 7, 2013 in London, England. Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for Universal Pictures

Walmart is under fire for referencing Paul Walker in a tweet about racing.

On Thursday, Walmart tweeted (and deleted): “Hey, Paul Walker. Click it, or ticket.”

The tweet was in response to a tweet from a user who posted a gif of a car racing through traffic, writing: “*me racin to the nearest Wally World*”

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Many people called Walmart out for being insensitive because Walker, who starred in The Fast and the Furious movies, died at 40 years old when the Porsche Carrera GT he was riding in spun out of control, struck three trees and burst into flames on a street in Santa Clarita, Calif., in 2013.

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Business Insider reports that Walmart confirmed its response tweet was from a line in the Comedy Central show Workaholics, but that was not made clear in the tweet.

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A Walmart spokesperson told Today that the tweet was “posted in poor judgement” and has since been removed.

“We apologize to Paul Walker’s family, friends and fans,” the statement said.

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