Entertainment

Photo: Contributed - CP

Rob Lowe at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

Actor Rob Lowe has raised the ire of Winnipeggers with a tweet that appears to refer to the Manitoba city as a "hell hole."

Lowe is in Winnipeg shooting a movie about Casey Anthony.

Late Tuesday night the actor posted a tweet while apparently watching the first game in the NBA series final between Oklahoma Thunder and Miami Heat.

Lowe tweeted: "The local affiliate is interrupting the 4th quarter of the #NBAFinals to show city council election results!!! #TrappedInAHellHole"

The response on Twitter was predictably harsh from residents of Winnipeg, which goes by the slogan "One Great City."

Lowe followers quickly pointed out that the so-called "local affiliate" he was watching was actually based across the border in Grand Forks, N.D.

There were no municipal elections taking place in Manitoba on Tuesday, but council elections took place in Grand Forks.

Lowe later played-down the original post (though he didn't delete it) when a Twitter follower told him he should have been watching the game on TSN, which broadcast the entire event.

"Thanks. Will find a better sports bar. Was the worst!!!" Lowe responded.

But by then the damage had been done and the hashtag #trappedinahellhole was trending on the social media service.

A tweeter with the handle @westenddumplings wrote:

"This #trappedinahellhole thing - he does know Grand Forks, Wpg are in two completely different countries?"

@LloydHannesson wrote: "I have a feeling that it will be his publicist that feels #TrappedInAHellHole We may be a small city, but we like to complain :)"

"YOU CAN LEAVE ANYTIME!!!!!!!!" wrote Ken Johnson.

Others made light of the comment, siding with Lowe or poking fun at overly-sensitive residents of the city jokingly referred to as "Winterpeg."

"People from Winnipeg need to get over the fact that there are people in the world who don't like it there," wrote @bitterbarnett.

@inc0gnito also weighed in: "If @RobLowe's comment bothers you, sadly you are #TrappedInAHellHole. #Winnipeg"

Lowe, who stars in "Parks and Recreation," has an active social media presence and often interacts with his fans and followers via Twitter.

File: CTV