Spike Lee has apologized and reached a settlement with the elderly couple whose address he erroneously tweeted as that of Trayvon Martin's shooter. But that doesn't mean the derision is over.
Jon Stewart raised a point Thursday that many others covering the story have missed: Publicizing George Zimmerman's address could encourage the kind of vigilantism that got Martin killed.
Also read: Spike Lee Apologizes for Tweeting Wrong Address of Trayvon Martin Shooter
"Sending a lynch mob to the wrong address is a bad mistake," Stewart said on "The Daily Show." "But I gotta say: Even if it was the right address, that's still a bad [expletive deleted] mistake. Sending a lynch mob to anybody's address is a bad mistake."
Stewart added: "Spike, you're a 55-year-old man. Leave the cyber-bullying to teenagers."
Lee has apologized to the couple, David and Elaine McClaine — and agreed that the case should be resolved legally. “I deeply apologize to the McClain Family for retweeting their address. It was a mistake," Lee tweeted. "Please leave the McClains in peace. Justice in Court.”
He also reached an undisclosed settlement with them, according to The Associated Press.
The man who initially posted the address sent it to Lee and other celebrities in the hopes that they would retweet it, which Lee did.
The McClaines say the exposure has been extremely difficult. In a clip played by Stewart, Elaine McClaine has said she has heart trouble, and David McClaine said he received a package for Zimmerman that said "taste the rainbow." He recognized it as a tagline for Skittles, the candy Martin was carrying when Zimmerman shot him.
"The people whose address you tweeted are the most adorable people ever," Stewart said, addressing Lee. Because of the tweet, Stewart added, they suddenly lived at the intersection of Bullseye Street and Angry Mob Avenue.
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