Ryan Dunn's friends: Ebert off base

Among a torrent of Internet outpourings in the wake of Ryan Dunn's death, one spat drew attention around the globe Tuesday.

Jackass costar Brandon "Bam" Margera slammed the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert for comments the latter made on Twitter hours after Dunn's death.

"Friends don't let jackasses drive drunk," said the Chicago-based Ebert, a prolific user of social-networking sites.

Within hours, Margera, a West Chester native who was in Phoenix at the time of the crash, struck back with a profanity-laden rant. "I just lost my best friend," he wrote. "I have been crying hysterical for a full day."

Other members of the Twitteratti were quick to pile on, including the bawdy celebrity-blogger Perez Hilton. "Everyone makes mistakes, but this is somebody's son. Too soon, Roger," he wrote.

By Tuesday morning, the backlash against Ebert had grown so heated that Facebook temporarily removed his fan page in hope of taming the vitriol. It was reposted just after noon.

Margera's mother, April, said she texted her son after noticing Ebert's tweets had struck a nerve.

"I told him: Just disregard him," she said. "You know Ryan, and you know he wasn't like that."