Sun-Times Sidelines Columnist Richard Roeper

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Sun-Times has sidelined columnist and movie critic Richard Roeper, pending an investigation into his Twitter account.

A New York Times story about the use of fake Twitter followers included Roeper as one of the prominent members of the media who used a company to increase his Twitter presence.

"We became aware over the weekend of issues relating to Rich Roeper's Twitter account. We're investigating these issues. We will not be publishing any reviews or columns by Rich until this investigation is complete," editor Chris Fusco said in a statement.

The Times story centered on a company called Devumi, which "has collected millions of dollars in a shadowy global marketplace for social media fraud."

The company, according to the report, will sell followers to people who want to increase their social media footprint.

Just last week, the Sun-Times announced it was bringing back Roeper's general interest column twice a week. Roeper had given up his column years ago to focus on his role as the paper's movie critic.