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Owen Wilson or Kurt Cobain? Misleading photo for birthday tribute sparks controversy: 'This joke is not funny'

'Given Owen Wilson's own mental health battles, this joke is in incredibly poor taste, not cool,' pointed out a fan

'Midnight in Paris' star Owen Wilson started trending on Twitter on Saturday, February 20 after a Twitter account shared a picture of him while wising late 'Nirvana' singer Kurt Cobain, a happy birthday.

The Twitter account 'Classic Picx' tweeted a picture of Wilson, along with the message: "Happy Birthday to the legend Kurt Cobain, who would've been 54 today." As commenters pointed out, the picture did not show Cobain. Thousands and thousands of people reacted to the tweets. Right from outrage, laughter, confusion and genuine misapprehension, Internet users expressed their disappointment and while some found the sarcasm behind it.

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From 1991 to 1994, 'Nirvana' grew into one of the most famous and loved bands in the world with a look and sound that would come to define the decade's music. At the height of this fame, though, bandleader Cobain sometimes seemed to be an unwilling participant who had just been swept up and carried away by Nirvana's success. Then, after less than four years of meteoric fame, Cobain killed himself on April 5, 1994. He was 27 at the time. He died of a heroin overdose, holding a gun.

Similar to many famous stars like Amy Winehouse and Brian Jones, Cobain was 27-years-old when he died, which has made him part of the 27 Club. On March 4, 1994, he was found having overdosed on champagne and drugs, which his wife Courtney Love said was his first suicide attempt. 

One Internet user commented on the post saying, "idgi this isn't Curt cobain. Please correct this is highly misleading." While another one called it a "joke" and wrote, "1. The joke is not funny 2. The joke is misleading 3. Fight for the Truth & like!."

One person suggested, "You might want to delete this tweet and start over, preferably with a picture not of Owen Wilson." And another one pointed out, "If you're gonna pay your respects the least you could do is get the picture right, geez"

And some sounded extremely offended with the alleged joke, as one person said, "I'm just going to say this. Given Owen Wilson's own mental health battles, this joke is incredibly poor taste. :/ not cool." While another one made fun of the fact that Cobain and Wilson, both tried committing suicide and wrote, "On one hand, that's funny  On the other hand, both of these guys made suicide attempts and one was a lot more successful than the other by a long shot #deadserious #allapologies"

Explaining the reason behind the wrongly posted picture, one said: "It happens twice a year (birth and death), and it’s always the greatest thread on the internet. Scroll through the comments and sub-threads. Take your time. Don’t eat/drink and scroll tho. #KurtCobain #RIPKurt"." Another one tweeted: "There are way too many people who did not realize this was a joke or that the entire account is a troll account with every tweet exactly like this. WAY too many."

Earlier NZ Herald reported that "in 2007, Wilson reportedly attempted suicide after developing a serious addiction to cocaine and heroin."

Many outlets reported that the actor's friends were "all too aware" of his struggles with drugs and depression, although a representative for Wilson denied he has ever used cocaine or heroin.