Russell Simmons. Photo: wiki commons.

Hip hop mogul Russel Simmons told his over three million Twitter followers on Saturday that he accidentally confused recently deceased former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon with Israel’s President Shimon Peres.

Hours after Sharon’s passing on Saturday Simmons tweeted a message of condolence only to later retract and apologize saying that he had mixed up the two men.

“R.I.P. my friend Ariel Sharon great pleasure working with you.. special occasions, your work to promote tolerance was inspiring,” he tweeted.

Following a barrage of criticism from Twitter users Simmons quickly deleted the tweet and apologized. “Confused Ariel Sharon with longtime friend, Shimon Peres. Certainly was no fan of Sharon. Sorry for mistake. I deleted tweet,” he explained to a number of his followers.

“On stair master…a little light headed. confused ariel sharon with longtime friend, shimon peres. sadly sharon promoted war, not peace,” he also said.

Some Twitter users then took exception to the apology. “@UncleRUSH Totally understand, man. Us Jews all look alike,” wrote Nathan Wurtzel.

“I always look to @UncleRUSH for an informed and intelligent opinion on Israeli leaders,” wrote another Twitter user sarcastically.

In June 2012 Simmons ignited controversy while attending Shimon Peres’ “Facing Tomorrow” Conference in Jerusalem when he compared the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, to noted anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan.