Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons’s more than 300,000 Twitter followers were surprised to learn late Saturday night that the Def Jam co-founder considered former prime minister Ariel Sharon a friend.

Then again, maybe it wasn’t such a surprise in light of photos of Sharon with Michael Jackson that cropped up across social media.

In any case, Simmons tweeted “R.I.P. my friend Ariel Sharon great pleasure working with you, special occasions your work to promote tolerance was inspiring (sic).”
Soon after, the Phat Farm owner responded to an inquiry by The Jerusalem Post on Twitter as to the nature of his work with Sharon as follows: “Confused Ariel Sharon with longtime friend, Shimon Peres. Certainly was no fan of Sharon. Sorry for mistake.