AceShowbiz -

Zac Efron did not think long and hard when he wrote about Martin Luther King Jr. on the African-American Civil Rights Movement leader's birthday. The "Neighbors 2" was forced to apologize for equalizing MLK and the number of followers on his Instagram account.

"I'm grateful for a couple things today: Martin Luther King Jr & 10 million followers on IG #MLKDay," Efron captioned a picture of himself driving a convertible on sunset Monday, January 18. He added an index finger and a fist in darker tone.

His post angered some fans who accused Efron of being "offensive" and "savage" among others. "@ZacEfron This is one of the most offensive/diminishing/disrespectful things anyone has said in relation to MLK today. Get over yourself," a fan wrote. "Dr. King did wasn't murdered so you could use black emojis and troll for Instagram followers," another follower wrote.

Someone also suggested that it should have been two separate posts. A harsher poster said Efron should even delete his account.

Efron's original tweet was up for several hours before he noticed the backlashes and deleted the post on Tuesday afternoon. "I have nothing but the greatest admiration & respect for MLK," the 28-year-old actor tweeted. "My last post was insensitive & I apologize to anyone who I offended. So sorry."