As the claims of sexual harassment pile up against Hollywood celebrities and media figures, CNN senior reporter Dylan Byers has come under fire for saying he is worried that there will be a ‘drain of talent’ as a consequence.

Byers tweeted the following comments, and then soon deleted them after a torrent of backlash:

The internet was not impressed:

Yeah geez what on Earth will we do without the sociopathy of the Kevin Spaceys and Harvey Weinsteins of the world, won't someone think of Bret Ratner's CONTRIBUTIONS — Nandini (@nandelabra) November 22, 2017

"sure Manson was a murderer, but what about his talent as a leader. it's worth taking stock of what we've lost." — Richard Lawler (@rjcc) November 22, 2017

Dude delete this — Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) November 22, 2017

You absolute muppet — jo livingstone (@Jo_Livingstone) November 22, 2017

this is what a sexist asshole tweets. go fuck yourself. let’s fill the “void of talent” with that of the incredible women actors who have been pushed down for far too long. — jon van dine (@jonvandine) November 22, 2017

This tweet is the most embarrassing thing I've seen this week, and I saw a dog wearing a full rain suit today. — Andi Zeisler (@andizeisler) November 22, 2017

Even Byers’ own CNN colleagues attacked him:

I think we can find some suitable replacements — Abigail Brooks (@_abigailbrooks) November 22, 2017

Also worth considering the drain of talent of all women who left the industry because of harassment and abuse. — Selena Larson (@selenalarson) November 22, 2017

Byers then sent out a second tweet backpeddaling on the original comments:

But it was too late:

I found the second tweet very concerning – purporting to “get” why the first one was a problem, but then repeating the very same point. — CaoilfhionnGallagher (@caoilfhionnanna) November 22, 2017

so i see dylan byers has finally gone fully dylan byers — katherine krueger (@kath_krueger) November 22, 2017

Dafuq. actually had to read this twice to believe it. How bout ALL the women who were forced out of the business by continued harassment. — Liz Garbus (@lizgarbus) November 22, 2017

Nah…your intended observation was pretty clear. Sucks to lose all that brilliant talent to a bunch of hysteria, huh? What about about all the talent that was lost when thousands of women were driven from the industry? — MeanOlLiberal (@MeanOlLiberal) November 22, 2017

So what did you mean when you said that a bunch of men fired for sexual assault were an amazing pool of talent? — Shane Bauer (@shane_bauer) November 22, 2017

Someone even changed Byers’ Wikipedia page to described him as “an American journalist and proponent of sexual assault if it interferes with his entertainment.”

A further entry stated “On November 21, 2017 [sic] Dylan Byers tweeted his concern that people were leaving the news industry for engaging in sexual harassment. In a little over two hours it looked like it was going for an all time [sic] ratio with 3,000 comments vs. 326 likes.”

In a third embarrassing tweet, Byers explained why he had deleted the previous two tweets:

I've deleted my previous tweet. It was poorly worded and didn't properly convey my intended observation. — Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) November 22, 2017

But by then it was waaaaay too late:

https://twitter.com/sarayasin/status/933174218484801536

I'm hearing remorse that he got backlash, nothing else. It's clearly really freaking hard to say which is why it never. Happens. How many victims have said, "I just wanted an apology, to know he didn't think I was just an object to toss aside so his talent could be showcased." — Christine Beswick (@bychristinebswk) November 22, 2017

I’m really curious to see how you reword this… The question should be about the lost talent of women who walked away from careers in media/entertainment or were shunned by their peers because of their abuser’s power over them in one way or another. — Michelle C Whittaker (@mcwspeaks) November 22, 2017

Explain what was your intended observation that would make you at any given point think that "the industry" suffering is in any way shape or form an issue to be put anywhere remotely close to the issue of women being subjected to harassment by ill-minded people? — Monty (@HypemasterMonty) November 22, 2017

It was disgusting but extremely clear. You are only deleting because you got backlash. — Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) November 22, 2017

You are Fake News! — Mark Dice (@MarkDice) November 22, 2017

The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!