Jason Biggs Malaysia Airlines MH17 Controversy: Actor Faces Backlash After Joke About Plane Crash

After a Malaysia Airlines flight with 295 passengers on board was reportedly shot down on Thursday by a Russian-made anti-aircraft system, comedian Jason Biggs thought it would be funny to make a joke about it. The flight crashed in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border.

No one is believed to have survived among the 280 passengers and 15 crew members. The incident comes just four months after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Biggs, best known for his role as Jim Levenstein in the "American Pie" film series, tweeted Thursday, “Anyone wanna buy my Malaysian Airlines frequent flier miles?”

He immediately received a strong backlash from fans, who called him a number of crude names. He didn't apologize for the insensitive comment, however. Instead, he tweeted a response, saying, “"Truly -- you losers are literally trying to find s--t to get angry about. Channel your issues elsewhere," and, "Hey, all you 'too soon' a--holes - it's a f--king joke. You don't have to think it's funny, or even be on my twitter page at all."

According to Reuters, 23 of those dead in Thursday's crash are American citizens. The plane crashed near the city of Donetsk, a stronghold of the pro-Russian rebels. Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko reportedly told Interfax that the flight, numbered MH17, was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, Reuters said, but that claim has yet to be verified.