London - Jason Biggs has apologised for making an "insensitive and ill-timed" joke about Malaysia Airlines.
The 'Orange Is The New Black' actor sparked outrage when he wrote on Twitter, "Anyone wanna buy my Malaysian Airlines frequent flier miles?" shortly after news broke that a commercial plane carrying 295 passengers was shot down by a missile over the Ukraine on Thursday.
He quickly added: "In all seriousness, tho - HOW DO YOU MISTAKENLY SHOOT DOWN A COMMERCIAL PLANE?! Ugh. It's saddest for the victims and their families, obviously. But Malaysia Airlines is apparently a GREAT airline. Gonna be tough to recover (sic)."
After his comments were blasted by many of his followers, Biggs insisted he didn't mean to offend anyone.
He wrote: "Hey all you 'too soon' a**holes - it's a f**king joke. You don't have to think it's funny, or even be on my twitter page at all.
"The idea that I wouldnt have any empathy 4 the victims or their families because I make a joke is absolutely ridiculous. U know that, right? Truly - you losers are literally trying to find sh*t to get angry about. Channel your issues elsewhere (sic)."
He later added: "I hope I can laugh during my family tragedy 2 (sic)!"
But soon afterwards he deleted the original post and tweeted: "Hey all - ok, so I am deleting my previous tweets. People were offended, and that was not my intent. Sorry to those of you that were.
"This is obviously a horrible tragedy, and everyone - including myself - is sad and angry about it. Sending positive thoughts to the victims and their families."
The former 'American Pie' star added: "P.S. No one is making me send these tweets - I simply understand that my comments might have come off as insensitive and ill-timed. For that, I apologise."
This isn't the first time the actor has caused controversy online.
He was previously criticised for posting the following tweet after 'The Bachelorette' contestant Eric Hill died in an accident earlier this year: "Crazy rule change - instead of voting off the contestants, this season #TheBachelorette gets to kill them off." - BANG Showbiz and IOL