Here's what Jon Snow has to say about the backlash to his Alan Rickman joke

Following the news that Alan Rickman had passed away on Thursday, Channel 4 dedicated part of its evening news coverage to the acclaimed British actor.*

While interviewing Richard Wilson, a friend and colleague of Rickman's, newsreader Jon Snow made what many deemed was a poorly-timed gag reflecting the former's role in One Foot in the Grave.

Snow asked Wilson:

Did you know he was dying?

Wilson confirmed that he indeed had, after which Snow quipped:

So it wasn’t a case of ‘I don’t believe it’ then?

You can watch a video of the incident below:

Following a subsequent backlash to his gag, Snow sent out a series of tweets on Saturday afternoon to apologise "unreservedly" for the poor timing.

More: Jon Snow made a joke about Alan Rickman's death and it did not go down well