Saint John — James K. Irving’s Twitter is, like, totally blowing up.
The 88-year-old businessman and notable trust fund baby has been regularly tweeting pugnacious commentary regarding local affairs on behalf of Irving Pulp and Paper Limited as news began rolling out this week about illegal dumping of harmful substances into the St. John River.
Despite only starting an account earlier this week, Irving’s tweets have already garnered a great deal of attention, especially after the aging industrialist went after local coffee roaster Java Moose on Wednesday.
“Java Moose = Moose piss. Fess up, guys #friggingross,” wrote Irving, punctuating his statement with a barf emoji.
“I don’t particularly like Java Moose Coffee either,” said Java Moose co-founder Glen McLean. “But I should think that the Irvings ought to show a greater respect for successful local businesses… you know, just in case they want to buy them someday.”
Nor have the arts escaped the eldest Irving’s rancor. The Mr. Burns lookalike contest winner (1996, 1999-2015) has tweeted numerous poor reviews of a recent Saint John Theatre Company production of Miracle on 34th Street, which by all reports he has not seen. Even The Manatee has come under fire on the raging oligarch’s Twitter feed, tweeting yesterday:
“The Manatee, which I’ve heard is incredibly unfunny, continues to publish lame ‘satire’ about JDI. We’ve had enough. Apologize! #Beerocracysuckedtoo!”
Some believe that these aggressive social media attacks are part of an effort to distract people from news about the dumping scandal. The Manatee spoke with Keep It Clean, a natural preservation group at St. Thomas University, about their thoughts on the scandal and whether they believe Irving’s tweets are an attempt to divert attention away from it.
“Yeah, man,” said Gary McGowan, fourth-year journalism major and president of Keep It Clean. “That stuff is super messed up and all — but did you see what he said about Westworld?…He called it overrated!”
The other students shook their heads in disbelief.
“Westworld!”