Rupert Murdoch criticizes 400-pound woman who...

According to Yahoo, Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch has sparked controversy with comments he made via Twitter concerning Ulanda Williams, the 400-pound woman who made headlines earlier this week for falling through a sidewalk on the Upper East Side of Manhattan--surviving the six-foot-drop with a broken arm plus cuts and bruises. Ironically, Williams' size may have been the thing that saved her from the fall, which could've been fatal.

On Tuesday the tycoon tweeted, "How did fat lady who fell thru street get to 400 lbs? Welfare, stamps, etc? Then leave us all with 20yrs immense health bills."

Besides the tone of the comments, which came across to some as harsh or lacking in compassion, many were also left wondering why Murdoch assumed the 32-year old social worker was on welfare. Most would agree that it's a mistake to publicly speculate on a matter like this without having all the facts.

Murdoch later revised the statement tweeting, "Did not mean to be unsympathetic to 400 lb lady, but fact remains unhealthy eating by rich and poor driving up premiums for all."

While Murdoch's comments were blunt and undiplomatic, his critics shouldn't jump to conclusions about any sort of bigotry. It could be that he was simply using the incident to underscore views on public assistance and taxes.