Fans of singer Amy Winehouse have accused Microsoft of trying to make money from her death, causing the computing giant to issue an apology for a ‘crass’ tweet.
After Winehouse was found dead in her London home on Saturday, the Microsoft Xbox 360’s official Twitter account, tweetbox360, had posted a message urging people to pay tribute to her by using Microsoft’s online store to buy her album.
“Remember Amy Winehouse by downloading the ground-breaking ‘Back to Black’ over at Zune,” the tweet read.
And then the backlash started.
“Talk about cashing in on someone’s death!” read one response, and another one declared, “It’s very insensitive and whoever had the idea of tweeting it had no taste.”
Microsoft then apologised, following more backlash labelling the tweet “crass” and “vile”.
“Apologies to everyone if our earlier Amy Winehouse download tweet seemed purely commercially motivated,” Microsoft said. “Far from the case we assure you.”
Microsoft then paid its own tribute to Winehouse in another tweet: “With Amy W’s passing, the world has lost a huge talent. Our thoughts are with Amy’s family and friends at this very sad time.”
An inquest into Winehouse’s death was launched yesterday but police have said they are not treating it as suspicious and no drugs were found in her home.
An autopsy yesterday could not determine a cause of death, but results of toxicology tests are expected by the end of August.
A private funeral and cremation for Winehouse is taking place today.
Photo: Singer Amy Winehouse
