Boston-based freelance writer David Leavitt started a firestorm on Twitter with an in-poor-taste joke about the attack outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester on Monday night (May 22). Many Twitter users, including Clint Black and John Rich, fired back at Leavitt for his words.

Shortly after news of the incident broke on Monday night, Leavitt -- whose Twitter bio says he writes for "CBS, AXS, Yahoo!, Examiner & etc." -- wrote in a now-deleted tweet, “MULTIPLE CONFIRMED FATALITIES at Manchester Arena. The last time I listened to Ariana Grande I almost died too.” He followed up with a second tweet: "Honestly, for over a year I thought an Ariana Grande was something you ordered at Starbucks."

Twitter users were quick to condemn Leavitt for his insensitivity: Rich urged the writer to "shut the hell up," adding, "Who raised you?" Black, meanwhile, noted, "Your [tweet] started with MULTIPLE CONFIRMED FATALITIES ... No jokes should follow that."

Following the backlash, Leavitt tweeted, "Sorry 4 offending. Didn't realize the magnitude of the tragedy. I always make stupid jokes about whatevers trending. Condolences 2 families [sic]."

Just minutes after Grande’s concert at Manchester Arena concluded on Monday night, a bomb of some sort was detonated outside of the venue, killing at least 22 people and injuring at least 59 people. The New York Post reports that extremist terrorist group ISIS has taken responsibility for the attack, issuing a statement on its social media channels. The person who set off the device died in the attack, but Greater Manchester Police have also arrested an unnamed 23-year-old man in South Manchester in connection with the incident.

A number of country artists have shared condolences to those affected by the incident in Manchester, and voiced their feelings about such an attack occurring outside of a concert venue. Brent Cobb, who is scheduled to play in Manchester on Tuesday night (May 23), has announced that his show will go on as planned.

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