Los Angeles, Dec 23 (IANS): Actor Samuel L. Jackson's 74th birthday was marred by controversy after fans noticed his Twitter account had "liked" a string of hardcore pornography sites.

The actor's favoured tweets feed was full of videos from Twitter user @blackpanda_00, which included a man involved in an intimate act and men and women having sex, as well as other explicit clips, reports aceshowbiz.com.

It is not known whether the likes are the result of his Twitter account being run by a third party or if the actor, who turned 74 on Wednesday, December 21, may have been hacked.

After Jackson's name started trending due to the likes, they were removed - but not before his followers screen-grabbed them and shared them online with comments about his supposed taste in adult material.

One fan joked he had an "old freaky a**" while others leapt to the "Snakes on a Plane" veteran's defence, saying he had every right to like porn.

One said, "He's a baller and I respect it. He's earned the right to like the tweets he did," while yet another of his supporters added, "Let that man be a horny old man in peace!"

The actor, who has been married to his wife LaTanya Richardson for 42 years, has yet to remark on the incident. He has previously openly admitted to being a fan of porn.

In 2017 during an Internet's "Most asked questions" with Wired magazine, he admitted when asked if he liked anime, "Yes, I do. Hentai, too" -- referencing the porn version of Japanese animation.