EastEnders star Shane Richie has apologised for a tweet about the Thomas Cook collapse that was branded 'disgusting'.
The 55-year-old, who plays Alfie Moon in the BBC soap, aired his views just hours after the travel company went in to compulsory liquidation.
The closure put 22,000 jobs at risk worldwide, 9,000 of them in the UK.
Following the announcement, the actor tweeted "karma" to the the travel firms official Twitter account.
There was immediate backlash to the tweet, with @brownasjleyj saying: "Disgusting comment."
Shane has now apologised and clarified who the tweet was aimed at.
He said: "My comment was a dig at faceless management and not the thousands of employees who are sadly losing their jobs due to mismanagement.
"My thoughts are with the shop/ground staff who I’ve only admiration for...there the ones who suffer today...apologies if it read any other way xx."
Thomas Cook closed with "immediate effect" after a failed attempt to save the firm in crisis talks on Sunday night.
Chief executive Peter Fankhauser told reporters this morning: "This is a statement I hoped I would never have to make.
"Following a decision by the board late last night, the UK Government's official receiver was appointed in the early hours of this morning, the 23rd of September, to take control of Thomas Cook.
"Despite huge efforts over a number of months and further intense negotiations in recent days, we have not been able to secure a deal to save our business.
"I know that this outcome will be devastating to many people and will cause a lot of anxiety, stress and disruption."
The collapse of the 178-year-old company has left 150,000 British holidaymakers trapped and over a million affected by cancelled holidays and flights.
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