Facebook apologizes after taking down nude Burt Reynolds posts (original) (raw)

Photos of the actor's infamous Cosmopolitan shoot triggered the platform's no-nudity policy

Published on September 8, 2018 04:54PM EDT

Facebook has officially apologized for taking down posts that involved the famous nude photos of late actor Burt Reynolds. The life and legacy of the Hollywood star has been the stuff of remembrance and nostalgia since the actor died Thursday at the age of 82.

Reynolds had a long and colorful career, and was such a revered sex symbol in his prime that he famously posed nude (on top of a bearskin rug) for a 1972 centerfold in Cosmopolitan magazine. But when social media users posted the photo in honor of his death, Facebook’s servers automatically flagged it as a violation of the platform’s no-nudity policy. Spokespeople for the company have since identified this as a mistake.

Larry Marano/Getty Images

“The image in question was mistakenly removed,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to EW on Saturday. “We are restoring the image as it does not break our standards and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

So feel free to go back to remembering Reynolds in all his charismatic glory. For a detailed overview of the highs and lows of the actor’s career — including the Cosmopolitan shoot — read his wide-ranging 2005 interview with EW.