Jamie Foxx Trayvon Martin Backlash: Actor's 'kNOw Justice' Shirt At MTV Awards Ignites Racist Tweets

Jamie Foxx was honored Sunday night at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, but more focus was paid to the shirt he wore to the event.

The “Django Unchained” star became the ninth recipient of the Generation Award and was honored for “distinguishing himself not just in a variety of movie genres, but in a variety of media, including film, music and television,” MTV said Friday.

However, viewers seemed to focus more on the actor’s wardrobe choice than his being awarded for his distinguished acting career.

At the awards show, Foxx wore a shirt with the phrase “kNOw Justice” with a large photo of Trayvon Martin. Last February, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida shot and killed the unarmed teenager. The shirt also included photos of the children killed in the worst mass shooting of the year--the Newtown school shooting in December.

Many viewers wrote crude statements on social media regarding the shirt. “[Expletive] the [expletive] with the Trayvon Martin shirt on!” one commenter wrote.

“Is Jamie Foxx really wearing a Trayvon Martin shirt? Go [expletive] yourself. The whole Trayvon Martin case in annoying as [expletive],” said another.

“Jamie Foxx wouldn’t be wearing that shirt if Trayvon Martin were white. #mtvmovieawards.”

“@iamjamiefoxx Nice shirt supporting that thug criminal Tryvon. How racist are you?” asked Jeremy Delana.

Jamie Foxx did not reply to the tweets.

Feb. 26 marked the one-year anniversary of the Trayvon Martin shootings. The shooting reignited discussions about race relations in America and gun control. Florida guns laws still have not changed, though the nation’s gun control movement has shown signs of revival since the tragedy.