A picture of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce partying with Megan Fox and MGK went viral the day after the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII—one, because although Travis is friends with MGK, Swifties were shocked to see the unlikely double date, and two, because Megan looked quite different in the shot.
So Megan took to Instagram to post a picture of the moment with better lighting. "Oh my god guys look how different I…dont look at all," she captioned the photo. "Turns out it was just a shadowy cell phone pic of me looking like a Ukrainian blowup doll. When in REALITY I look like one of those super expensive silicone real [redacted] dolls you can only get in Japan." YIKES. Fans quickly called out her offensive remarks.
Actress and CEO of lifestyle brand Goop Gwyneth Paltrow could fill up pages and pages of a foot-in-the-mouth article of her own. Take her utter failure attempt at the 2015 #FoodBankNYCChallenge that she deemed an impossible challenge. Yeah, it’s pretty hard living off of $29 in food stamps if your pantry essentials include black licorice and seven limes.
At this point, it’s hard to take her seriously, and most people have given up trying. Twitter user @ZachIsWeird commented, “Don't Worry, Poor People: Gwyneth Paltrow Is Here to Show You How to GOOP Your Food-Stamp Benefits.” Good thing people didn't take Paltrow at her word after releasing bogus candles and blog posts on her website.
According to The Washington Post, “The idea is to experience how difficult it is for families to live on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),” but Paltrow barely lasted four days, which called into question how hard she really tried. “My perspective has been forever altered by how difficult it was to eat wholesome, nutritious food on that budget,” the actress wrote on Goop.
“After this week, I am even more grateful that I am able to provide high-quality food for my kids. Let’s all do what we can to make this a basic human right and not a privilege.” At least Paltrow’s self-proclaimed “brouhaha” brought awareness to a good cause.
Drew Barrymore, a beloved child star-turned-talk show host, has landed in some hot water recently. The Writer's Guild of America (WGA) strike may be over (for now), but she chose the wrong time to tell the world that she would resume filming of "The Drew Barrymore Show" back in September when the strike was in full force.
After the WGA began striking, SAG-AFTRA swiftly joined the picket fencing. Together, the unions nearly shut down all of the production in Hollywood... which includes talk shows such as Barrymore's. Therefore, critics and fans alike were livid that the ultra-rich celeb was choosing herself instead of standing strong with struggling writers and actors.
Initially, Barrymore released a 2-minute apology video on her Instagram, but it left a similarly sour taste in our mouth. While she "apologized" and said, “I own this choice. I believe there is nothing I can do or say in this moment to make it OK," she never said she wouldn't move forward with production. In fact, she doubled down! Um, that's not how apologies work...
Barrymore stepped down from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards and was dropped as a co-host for the 2023 National Book Awards after the controversy. She finally changed her mind on September 17, saying, "I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over. I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt..."
J.K. Rowling needs no introduction. As the first billionaire author of the children's fictional phenomenon Harry Potter that became the best-selling book series of all time, thousands of hardcore fans have risen her to a godlike status who can do no wrong. Unfortunately, Rowling is more of a morally gray Greek god than a saint, if you catch our drift. The controversy started on Twitter in June 2020 when Rowling tweeted the following:
"‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?" Many people found issues with the satirical tone of the tweet and its underlying transphobia. But she didn't back down! Rowling released four other tweets claiming that it's not "hateful" for her to "speak the truth" and doubled down with a full-length post on her website titled "TERF Wars" where she outlined "five reasons for being worried about the new trans activism."
Many fans of Rowling's fantasy series were shocked by Rowling's self-proclaimed "TERF" AKA "Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist" status. Ironically, Rowling once claimed that her most hated vice was "bigotry." Needless to say, fans and activists alike weren't impressed with the hypocrisy. You'd think Rowling would take a second look at her words and realize that there's a way to be both a feminist and trans-accepting, but she tripled down on her views. She even blocked fellow author Stephen King after he tweeted, "Yes. Trans women are women."
Most recently, Rowling scoffed at trans rights once again when Scotland passed a new policy protecting trans identity, meaning criminals who commit sex crimes could self-identify their gender after being caught by police. Rowling tweeted, "War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman." The offender will still be prosecuted, so what's the big deal?
Leave it to a Kardashian to say too much! It’s like these girls just don’t know when to stop talking! They think they can solve the world’s problems when the only problems they have in the world are “First World Problems.” These girls haven’t done anything for anyone, yet they act like they’re important.
Kim in an interview with Variety spread her unrequited advice to women in business which was a simple…"Get your f------ ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days." Oh, Kim darling…like you’ve had a real job a day in your life? Kim people are dying sweety…come on!
In response to the online backlash, Kim Kardashian spoke to Good Morning America host Robin Roberts, saying “That statement that I said was without questions and conversation around it. It became a sound bite really with no context.” She then went on to clarify the context, and apologize for the misunderstanding:
“And that sound bite came off the notion and the question right before which was after 20 years of being in the business you’re famous for being famous. And… my whole tone and attitude changed with the previous question that went into that question about what advice would you give to women…It wasn’t a blanket statement towards women or to feel like I don’t respect the work or think that they don’t work hard. I know that they do….It was taken out of context but I’m really sorry if it was received that way.”
Actress and daytime talk show host Whoopi Goldberg can do no wrong in the eyes of the public… at least until January 31, 2022. As one of 16 people to ever win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award, fans were shocked when Goldberg claimed that the Holocaust had nothing to do with race on live television.
"Well, [the Holocaust] is White people doing it to White people, so y'all gonna fight amongst yourselves. If you're going to [ban problematic parts of history], then let's be truthful about it because the Holocaust isn't about race.” She went on to falsely claim that the murder of 6 million Jews was about "man's inhumanity to man" rather than race.
Fans were quick to criticize Goldberg for underplaying the horrifying racism during World War II. That same night, she used Twitter to broadcast a heartfelt apology, which she reiterated the next morning on The View: "On today's show, I said the Holocaust "is not about race but about man's inhumanity to man. I should have said it is about both."
She went on to say, "As Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazi's systematic annihilation of the Jewish people — who they deemed to be an inferior race." I stand corrected. The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I'm sorry for the hurt I have caused." Despite her best efforts at an apology, ABC suspended Goldberg from The View for two weeks.
Ashton Kutcher and wife Mila Kunis have been fan favorites since their time on That '70s Show. Eventually, the pair married, and became a Hollywood power couple. Sure, they make some weird parenting decisions (why don't they bathe their kids again?), but nothing they've done is inherently offensive... That is, until they defended former costar Danny Masterson during his trial...
The controversy began with Masterson, who was accused by three women of having violated them inappropriately back in March 2017. He denied the allegations, but after two more women came forward, he was dropped from his talent agency and eventually brought to trial, which was declared a mistrial, reconsidered in 2023, resulted in a hung jury, and he was sentenced 30-to-life in prison.
So, Masterson is definitely guilty, which is super embarrassing for Kutcher and Kunis who submitted character witnesses on his behalf, which basically blamed the victims and cast doubt on them. After immense blowback from fans, the pair took to Instagram to apologize.
“The character statement I submitted is yet another painful instance of questioning victims who are brave enough to share their experiences." People aren't so quick to forgive, however, and Kutcher resigned from his anti-sex-trafficking organization Thorn due to the pressure.
During an interview on The Graham Norton Show, wisecracking actress Jennifer Lawrence told an anecdote that bristled feathers in terms of cultural insensitivity. “There were… rocks — I dunno, they were ancestors, who knows — they were sacred,” said Lawrence about her time filming The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in Hawaii.
“And you’re not supposed to sit on them… I, however, was in a wetsuit for this whole shoot – oh my god, they were so good for butt itching!” We have no clue what was going through Lawrence's head when she did this, but we can't blame her for being uncomfortable in the skin-tight wetsuit.
But we can hold her accountable... were there not any regular rocks around to scratch her itch? Not only did she disturb the peace for locals, but viewers of the show couldn’t help but point out her white privilege, with Twitter user @MrPooni dubbing it “The whitest story ever told.”
She took to Facebook for a brief public apology: “I meant absolutely no disrespect to the Hawaiian people. I really thought that I was being self deprecating about the fact that I was ‘the curse,’ but I understand the way it was perceived was not funny and I apologize if I offended anyone.”
Former boyband member Justin Timberlake has multiple incidents to apologize for: first with the highly publicized breakup between him and Britney Spears, and two years later in 2004 when he inadvertently ripped off part of Janet Jackson’s costume during that year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. In both cases, Timberlake shrugged off the controversies, garnering about 10% of the blame for each.
And for the women? Spears was accused of cheating, without help from Timberlake’s simmering music video “Cry Me A River” featuring a Spears lookalike. This forced her into a negative spotlight and had interviewers grilling her about supposed infidelity. And Jackson was cut from her performance at the Grammys under accusations that she’d manufactured “Nipplegate” for publicity.
Timberlake admitted to MTV in 2006 that Jackson suffered more in the aftermath of the fashion fail. “I think America is harsher on women. I think America is unfairly harsh on ethnic people.” He apologized to Britney Spears, alongside Jackson, on his Instagram on February 12, 2021. It was a long time coming!
He wrote: "I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism… I specifically want to apologise to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.”
Call Me By Your Name star Armie Hammer was just another Hollywood heartthrob until Instagram account @houseofeffie shared screenshots in early January of explicit DMs ranging from 2016-2020 allegedly exchanged between the actor and countless women. The exchanges weren't only inappropriate, but outright bizarre. Plus, the messages implied that Hammer was unfaithful to his wife.
This isn’t another harmless scandal we’ll forget about in March; shocking implications of infidelity, abuse, and cannibalism have left Hammer with criticism up to his eyeballs. Ex-girlfriend Courtney Vucekovic corroborated claims of his cannibal fantasies, telling Page Six that he “wanwant[ed] to break my rib and barbecue and eat it.”
At this time, Hammer abandoned multiple projects, including Shotgun Wedding, and was dropped by his agency. Many fans were shaken by these claims and circulated memes about Hammer until they finally caught his attention. He’s denied most of the allegations brought against him, including infidelity and cannibalism. He offered no apology except for this bitter statement to People:
“I'm not responding to these bulls--- claims, but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot in good conscience now leave my children for 4 months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic. Lionsgate is supporting me in this and I'm grateful to them for that.”
A lot of people drink a little too much on New Year’s Eve, but most people aren't on national TV. Andy Cohen stuck his foot deep in his mouth when he began loudly (and angrily) insulting outgoing NYC mayor Bill de Blasio. He called de Blasio a horrible mayor, talking about how he was excited to see him out. All he could say was “Sayonara, sucka!”
While Cooper was begging Cohen “Oh, don’t go on a rant. Don’t go on a rant,” Cohen did just that – he very much went off on a tangent. Afterward, he laid into Ryan Seacrest. No one was safe from his drunken vigor. Cohen stated, “Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers that are performing behind us.”
During the broadcast and the rant about de Blasio, Cohen stated “I have a feeling I’m gonna be standing here right here next year,” and apparently, he was right. Lots of people expected CNN to fire Cohen, but the network decided not to. CNN stated, “Andy said something he shouldn’t have on live TV. We’ve addressed it with him and look forward to having him back again next year.”
To be fair, Andy Cohen did state that he regrated being “stupid and drunk,” but not that he regretted everything he said. He stated “The only thing I regret saying, the only thing is that I slammed the ABC broadcast. I really do like Ryan Seacrest and he’s a great guy.” Go on with ya bad self, Andy!
After nearly two decades of hosting The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and their respective spin-offs, Chris Harrison is stepping aside. Fans accused Harrison of defending historical racism after images of Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell emerged from her college days at an antebellum-themed party, posing with Confederate flag merchandise, MAGA propaganda, and Blue Lives Matter imagery.
In an interview with former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay, Harrison attempted to deflect Lindsay’s concerns with racism by shielding Kirkconnell. "Well, Rachel, is it a good look in 2018? Or, is it not a good look in 2021? Because there's a big difference," said Mr Harrison, going on to reiterate that he isn’t “the woke police.”
In an ever-developing situation, both Harrison and Kirkconnell have issued apologies on their Instagram pages, with Harrison going twice as far in posting two apologies to satisfy unhappy audiences. In the first apology, he emphasized a “promise to do better,” but many were left unimpressed and wanted to see immediate action taken against him.
A few days later, he posted, “I have spent the last few days listening to the pain my words have caused, and I am deeply remorseful. My ignorance did damage to my friends, colleagues and strangers alike,” going on to say, “by excusing historical racism, I defended it.” He’s chosen to temporarily step aside as Bachelor host on top of skipping the “After the Final Rose” special.
What a surprise! Yeah, not really. Kanye West made the list, and there are plenty of foot-in-the-mouth situations to pick from for the rapper. From claiming that George Bush “doesn’t care about black people” during Hurricane Katrina to dubbing himself “Yeezus,” West’s shame is nonexistent and his slip-ups are far-reaching.
While those controversies are interesting, we’ll never forget him storming the stage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 VMA’s. Little did he know, this interruption would be brought up time and time again over the next ten years as Swift, West, and the Kardashians publicly duked it out on Twitter.
To make a very long story short, Kanye West stole the mic from Taylor Swift (after starting the night with a bottle of Hennessy in hand) while she was accepting her Best Video by a Female Artist award, shouting, “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”
More than a decade later, fans from each camp still haven’t gotten over it, especially after Kanye slandered her in his song “Famous” and kickstarted Twitter’s nasty #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty campaign. Taylor released her hit song "Look What You Made Me Do," which many fans theorize is a direct response to West and Kim Kardashian.
If you remember back in 2020, Vanessa Hudgens isn’t the only celebrity to make light of the international pandemic, which isn’t surprising given the regrettable “Imagine” cover orchestrated by Gal Gadot and a slew of bushy-tailed celebrities. Then in comes Ellen DeGeneres ready to steal the crown for Covid-19 foot-in-the-mouth cringe.
On April 6 in a video set in her California mansion, the talk show host compared quarantining there to prison life. "One thing I've learned from being in quarantine is that people — this is like being in jail, is what this is," DeGeneres joked. "It's mostly because I've been wearing the same clothes for 10 days, and everyone in here is gay."
The second half of the statement made her joke obvious, but fans couldn’t help but roll their eyes at a celebrity complaining about quarantining from a Montecito mansion. Twitter user Rebecca Kavanagh commented, “People are literally dying in jail from COVID-19 while Ellen is out here making jokes about it.”
DeGeneres decided to keep her mouth shut after the incident and has not released an apology. The strategy seemed to work for her pretty well until she found herself in an even nastier controversy. Glam Youtube star Nikki Tutorials blasted the TV host for her poor hospitality and treatment of staff, which led to widespread rallies against Ellen.
Vanessa Hudgens sparked outrage from fans in early 2020 with an insensitive Instagram live video. “Even if everybody gets [COVID-19], like yeah, people are going to die,” Hudgens said, “which is terrible... but inevitable?” Somewhere in that mess of logic, a kernel of truth can probably be found, but the timing and delivery were all wrong.
Her video released as the onset of the pandemic loomed with many being hospitalized, laid off, and barred from seeing loved ones and family members. So for a mega-rich celebrity to sit in her Hollywood Hills mansion and complain about how the pandemic ruined her life isn't the most palatable conversation topic.
In the days following the wildfire spread of the video across the internet, people called out the former Disney star and High School Musical actress for her heartless comments. At first, Hudgens targeted viewers for misunderstanding what she said but then she backtracked into a full apology on Twitter (probably because of her PR team).
“I realize my words were insensitive and not at all appropriate for the situation our country and the world are in right now. This has been a huge wake up call… I’m sending safe wishes to everyone to stay safe and healthy during this time.” At least she apologized?
The Wallen controversy set off a deep dive into the racism of the country music industry, and Luke Combs isn’t spared. Old photos of Combs posing in front of Confederate flags and similar imagery landed him in the news for racial insensitivity, to which he’s acknowledged his part in perpetuating the toxicity of racism in the industry.
Jeremy Ivey called Combs out on Twitter, writing, "Any @lukecombs fans out there? Anybody care that he has multiple pics with confederate flags on his guitar and in his press photos? Why is this not a topic of discussion? We all knew he couldn’t write a song and Walmart was his fashion designer but guess what? He’s racist too."
“There is no excuse for those images,” singer Luke Combs told Maren Morris and Ann Powers during the 2021 Country Radio Seminar in mid-February. “I know that I’m a very highly visible member of the country-music community right now,” Combs said. “And I want to use that position for good, and to say that people can change and people do want to change, and I’m one of those people trying.”
“As a younger man, that was an image that I associated to mean something else. And as I’ve grown in my time as an artist, and as the world has changed drastically in the last five to seven years, I am now aware how painful that image can be to someone else.”
Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy actor Chris Pratt posted a photo of himself and wife Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt back in November 2021 - a photo that was met with immediate backlash. The photo was captioned with comments of appreciation for his wife. However, it was the comments regarding his daughter were seen as slight against his son.
In his Instagram post, he expressed his gratitude for his “gorgeous healthy daughter.” Pratt’s son Jack, whom he shares with ex-wife Anna Faris, was born two months premature and had a number of health issues. Instagram users felt Pratt was showing favoritism towards his new daughter and a lack of respect for Jack and his ex-wife, so they took to the comment section to express their sentiments.
Whether or not that is what Pratt intended with his caption, that is what people took from it and Chris Pratt was immediately bothered by the reaction. Pratt told Men’s Health Magazine:
"I said something like, 'Find someone who looks at you the way my wife looks at me.' And then I gave her some s--- in the thing and said, 'But I love you. I'm so thankful for my wife -- she gave me a beautiful, healthy daughter,'" Pratt said. "And then a bunch of articles came out and said, 'That's so cringeworthy. I can't believe Chris Pratt would thank her for a healthy daughter when his first child was born premature. That's such a dig at his ex-wife.'"
Pratt then expressed his dismay towards the reaction, saying, "I'm like, That is f—d up. My son's gonna read that one day. He's 9. And it's etched in digital stone. It really f—ing bothered me, dude. I cried about it. I was like, I hate that these blessings in my life are — to the people close to me — a real burden."
Tom Holland has become the biggest lovable liability for the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the past five years. He’s spilled so many film secrets that Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch was tasked to watch over Holland and keep his tongue in check during a large-scale and incredibly high-profile Avengers promotional tour.
From leaking the title of Spiderman: Far From Home to shouting “I’m alive!” to an entire theater of people who hadn’t yet seen the twist ending of Infinity War, Holland has a plethora of foot-in-the-mouth moments to choose from. At least these slip-ups are practically harmless in comparison to the plethora of horrific Hollywood scandals.
Luckily Holland is one of the few unproblematic celebrities, and his trend of spoiling films doesn’t qualify him to suffer under Twitter’s ravenous hordes. He’s an excitable goofball who wants to have fun and keep audiences engaged. That’s really about the extent of it. Plus, now that he's dating Zendaya, he can do no wrong in our eyes.
Funnily enough, Holland and Ruffalo—referred to as the “Spoiler Bros” by fans—were left off Endgame’s press tour, with the director tweeting the following: "Missing you @TomHolland1996 and @MarkRuffalo this from last year boys? Sorry we dusted you Tom. Had a blast with @chrishemsworth this year." It's really bad when the director leaves you off the promotional tour for the biggest film of the season!
Ariana Grande is crowned the new “Princess of Pop” with the domination of hits “god is a woman,” “thank u, next,” and “34 + 35.” Despite these amazing song options to choose from, she thought that “7 Rings” was the winner. Thus, she got celebrity tattoo artist Kane Navasard to memorialize it on her palm.
We all know the story… Grande wanted the title of her song to be written in Japanese and for some reason didn't verify with a translator how it would visually read as something entirely different. Both artists failed to realize that the Japanese read “small charcoal grill” instead of Grande’s chart-topping song.
After merciless mocking on Twitter, Grande sheepishly commented on the slip up in a now-deleted tweet: “Indeed, I left out '???,' which should have gone in between. It hurt like still looks tight..." To remedy the mistake, she stuck more Japanese to the end with a cheeky heart. Too bad quick fixes rarely solve anything...
Now, Grande has to live with a palm tattoo that reads “Japanese barbeque fingers” until it fades. There’s a reason our language teachers banned Google Translate in the classroom! The real question is why she had to get the tattoo on her palm. Palm tattoos are notoriously painful and fade much faster than tattoos on other parts of the body. Seems a bit fishy...
Rita Ora has a few controversies under her belt, with the most embarrassing amounting to fake claims of a Twitter hack. In a stunt to get fans hyped about her new music release in October 2014, Ora tweeted, “Dropping my new song monday if this get 100,000 retweets.”
Unfortunately, her 4 million-strong Twitter following only managed to pull 2,000 retweets, leaving Ora defeated enough to delete the post. What an odd publicity stunt! Why would even pretend to act like she wasn't going to release her song regardless? It seems like she wanted a quick ego boost, period.
Just an hour later, Ora claimed her account was hacked and that “somebody is threatening to release new music I've worked really hard on.” Despite these claims, fans doubted that it was reality. Perhaps the star should’ve stuck to the “nothing comes out until I'm ready” story the whole time.
Why would anyone hack Ora's account just to try and get as many retweets as possible for her account? Perhaps she was hacked but the hacker was simply trying to humiliate her, which would honestly make more sense. If any hacker actually wanted to threaten to release an artist's music, wouldn't they just blackmail the artist instead of playing a Twitter prank?
Forget you, Cee Lo! This versatile vocalist has had major slips of judgment that have cost him roles on The Voice and his reputation. The “Crazy” singer pleaded no contest to allegations that he slipped ecstasy into a woman’s drink and was subsequently placed on probation with 360 hours of community service.
Upset by the public backlash, Green tweeted, “If someone is passed out they’re not even WITH you consciously, so WITH implies consent. People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!” Not only were his words completely lacking empathy, but they're outright untrue. Green obviously has no clue about how trauma works or how substances can alter memory.
Green was never charged with rape, but his sexist rant skyrocketed criticism against him threefold. Believing that he didn't deserve the backlash, he quickly backtracked, promising that he regretted his “comments being taken so far out of context,” as he’d “never condone the harm of any women.”
Before deactivating his Twitter account entirely, Green issued one last apology that was taken moderately well by the public: “I truly and deeply apologize for the comments attributed to me on Twitter. Those comments were idiotic, untrue and not what I believe.” Let's normalize the practice of thinking before we Tweet, shall we?
Back in 2009, pre-Bangerz Miley Cyrus landed in a racism row with OCA Asian-American advocacy group over a snap capturing her and some friends mimicking “slanty-eyes” in front of Asian fans. The gesture is obviously culturally insensitive, but Cyrus felt like the backlash was overblown.
Writing on her official fansite of the time MileyWorld.com, she said, “Well, I'm sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context! In no way was I making fun of any ethnicity! I was simply making a goofy face. When did that become newsworthy?... I feel like now that Britney is back on top of her game again, they need someone to pick on!”
According to USMagazine, OCA was not impressed by the apology, citing Cyrus’s actions as setting “a terrible example” for her young fans. Cyrus issued another apology soon after that was more heartfelt than her initial deflection. Good thing she has a strong PR team behind her, especially during her fragile Disney Channel days.
"I really wanted to stress how sorry I am if the photo of me with my friends offended anyone. I have learned a valuable lesson from this and know that sometimes my actions can be unintentionally hurtful.” Woah, she almost took full responsibility for her actions in that apology!
50 Cent isn’t exactly held to the highest standard of morality. One look at his song “Straight To The Bank” and we know he isn’t one to take political correctness or "snowflake" culture seriously. But sometimes he goes way, way too far even for the most conservative people among us.
Once he replied to a fan on Twitter saying, "yeah just saw your picture fool you look autistic. I don't want no special ed kids on my time line follow some body else.” Obviously, that is a horrific and utterly ableist thing for him to say, even as a joke. Fans demanded an apology but doubted they’d ever get one.
Surprisingly enough, 50 Cent managed to scrounge up some sorrow for his shocking words. “I realize my autism comments were insensitive,” he wrote, adding, “however it was not my intention to offend anyone and for this I apologize.” Yeah, you had us in the first half but lost us at that last part.
Unfortunately, the rapper doesn’t seem to have learned much, having been called out for ableism multiple times since the incident in 2010. He does realize that being sorry for his actions means that he should change his behavior, right? That's a rhetorical question... For most celebrities, apologies are merely damage control!
It’s well known that Grey’s Anatomy actor Isaiah Washington was suddenly written off the show in 2007, and it all boils down to a terrible foot-in-the-mouth situation. In an argument with co-star Patrick Dempsey, Washington allegedly dropped a homophobic slur directed at actor T.R. Knight, who came out as gay shortly after.
During a live interview on Ellen, Knight shared his side of the story, saying, “I think when that happened, something shifted, and it became bigger than myself." He realized that Washington's comments weren't personal, necessarily, but implied a much bigger bias problem underneath the surface. Why else would he call someone a slur?
Washington denied that he was calling out Knight with the “f-word,” but repeatedly used the slur backstage at the Golden Globes, prompting an apology from the disgraced actor. “I can neither defend nor explain my behavior,” Washington said in a statement reported by People.
“I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I’ve asked for help.” If he can't manage to refrain from using slurs and offensive language, then yes, he needs lots of help. Needless to say, ABC gave a hearty “goodbye!” to Dr. Burke.
Rising country star Morgan Wallen, with his wispy mullet and No. 1 album, has been the darling of Tennessee since his time competing on The Voice. So when a drunken video of Wallen spewing slurs and n-words was released on February 2, 2021, the country music industry split into two camps.
Once Wallen's label Big Loud Records suspended him from work and the Academy of Country Music (ACM) barred him from the ACM Awards, country fans had a collective meltdown. Holding people accountable for their harmful actions is a bad thing, apparently, if you don't get to jam to the live version of "Whiskey Glasses."
Some fans purposely streamed his music to break the top 10 on U.S. charts, others complained of the “double standards" in the industry, and fellow country singers deflected blame from themselves with claims that Wallen’s words aren’t representative of all country music. Suddenly, the issue blew up into a conversation about the music industry as a whole.
In a video apology to TMZ, Wallen appears to understand the weight of his words, saying, “I’m embarrassed and sorry. I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back. There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better.”
Kendall Jenner isn’t the first white celebrity to launch their own tequila brand, but she seems to be the first to attract a ton of negative attention for it. We won’t dive into the gender politics of the situation, but her status as an ultra-rich socialite part of the Kardashian-Jenner clan only count as strikes against her for critics.
The model announced on Instagram in early 2021 that the launch of her four-years-coming tequila brand 818 (named after the Calabasas, CA, area code) was coming soon… but not everyone was thrilled. Tequila is historically made with agave in Mexico by native workers. Jenner relates to neither of those things.
The company’s Instagram page @drink818 claims that the drink is “hand-crafted tequila from Jaliso, Mexico.” That’s good news for the quality of the product, but terrible in terms of cultural appropriation and gentrification of minority-run businesses. Her “journey to create the best tasting tequila” sparked outrage from people pointing out that she’s profiting off another person’s culture, history, and labor.
The fact that Jenner feels like she has the authority and the need to produce specifically Hispanic whiskey is beyond us. She's a model and socialite, so why a Tequila business? She can do whatever she wants, of course, but it should be within reason, something she actually cares about, and not just an exploitative cash grab.
