Wondering why Vanessa Hudgens was trending on social media yesterday?
Nope, it’s not because she recently recreated a High School Musical dance on Tik Tok with Ashley Tisdale (the IRL Sharpay), it’s because of comments she made on Instagram Live about the coronavirus outbreak.
Addressing the rumours that we’ll be in isolation until July, the singer / actress said:
“Um, yeah, ’til July sounds like a bunch of bullshit. I’m sorry, but like, it’s a virus, I get it, like, I respect it, but at the same time I’m like, even if everybody gets it, like yeah, people are going to die, which is terrible but like, inevitable?”
Following loads of online backlash, she later issued an apology on Twitter.
— Vanessa Hudgens (@VanessaHudgens) March 17, 2020
While critics are still on her back about the comments she issued to her impressionable young followers, fellow social media star Chrissy Teigen stepped in via Twitter to defend her.
“Sometimes people, especially famous people, are gonna say really stupid shit. & so are you,” the cookbook author tweeted. “And they, and u, will learn from it & hopefully their history says they’re good. It’s ok. And at the same time, wow they really had a dumb fuckin moment. But u don’t have [to] ruin their lives.”
sometimes people, especially famous people, are gonna say really stupid shit. & so are you. and they, and u, will learn from it & hopefully their history says they’re good. it’s ok. and at the same time, wow they really had a dumb fuckin moment. but u don’t have ruin their lives
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) March 18, 2020
The former supermodel went on to remind her followers that “this isn’t about me this time” but “it will be one day, or it’ll be you.”
“But yeah today it’s Vanessa lol,” she continued, adding in a separate tweet, “and no, life is rarely ruined for anyone. But you are damn well trying your best. Just stop.”
this isn’t about me this time. but it will be one day, or it’ll be you. but yeah today it’s Vanessa lol
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) March 18, 2020
and no, life is rarely ruined for anyone. but you are damn well trying your best. just stop.
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) March 18, 2020
When Teigen started to get pushback from her own followers over the controversy, she doubled down on her empathy for Hudgens, while also acknowledging that the actor’s comments were “really dumb.”
One fan told the Lip Sync Battle host that celebrities should “think about the impact their words can have” given their massive followings.
Teigen agreed, but still called for compassion, writing, “We all have stupid moments and some people (like me) have a lot of passion and things don’t come out the way we mean it.”
“It sucks and she for sure feels terrible and just stop watching her stuff but the knives gotta go,” she wrote, later adding, “I promise promise promise I learned and she is learning now and that’s all you can ask for.”
Teigen’s no stranger to controversy having been dragged over the coals just days ago for a “tone deaf” tweet she posted about *checks notes* soup.
I’ll let you read all about that here.
