1.
Let’s start with the most recent celeb news: on Monday, Katy Perry went to space on an all-female 11-minute mission run by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin. Of the mission, Perry said, “It’s about a collective energy and making space for future women. It’s about this wonderful world that we see right out there and appreciating it. This is all for the benefit of Earth.” The trip was the first all-female space flight since a 1963 trip by a single female astronaut — but this didn’t necessarily make it empowering, despite Perry’s claims.
Critics — including fellow celeb Emily Ratajowski — were quick to point out not only the money wasted on the trip but also its environmental impact, along with its association with Bezos. To many, it felt far less like female empowerment, and far more like an empty gesture.
2.
This isn’t the first time Perry’s been accused of empty “feminist” gestures. Last year, she released the song and accompanying video for “Women’s World,” which was criticized for being the definition of dated, performative, surface-level feminism (Perry later claimed it was “satire”). It didn’t help that Perry had worked with Dr. Luke on the song, who Kesha accused of rape in 2014.*
3.
Then, there’s Perry’s speech last year at the VMAs, where she accepted MTV’s Video Vanguard Award. Perry spoke about the “noise” female artists deal with, joking about her period and bringing up criticisms after she cut her hair short. This might’ve been fine, except…periods and haircuts kind of pale in comparison to rampant sexual assault and intimidation in the music industry, especially considering her continued work with Dr. Luke.
4.
During the January 6 Capitol attack, Demi Lovato tweeted about her heart being broken over the insurrection…and then brought up her music. “It makes me to sad to believe how naive I was to think this couldn’t possibly happen, and yet it did. Here we are. For everyone in my comments saying ‘where’s d7’ or wanting me to sing instead of speaking up about what needs to change in this country…” she wrote on X (then Twitter). “THIS IS WHY I POST AS MUCH AS I DO. THIS IS WHY I CARE. THIS CANNOT HAPPEN ANY FUCKING MORE. I’m angry, embarrassed and ashamed. I’m in the studio working on something special after today’s assault on democracy. #impeachtrumptonight.” While Demi’s outrage was shared by many Americans, centering the tweet around her music was poorly received — as was the idea that a song might be of any help.
5.
Speaking of the aftermath of the 2020 election, Eva Longoria made a bit of a head-scratching comment just after the results came out. Appearing on MSNBC to speak about Biden’s win, she said, “The women of color showed up in a big way. Of course, you saw in Georgia what Black women have done, but Latina women were the real heroines here — beating men in turnout in every state and voting for Biden/Harris at an average rate close to three to one.” While clearly trying to make a point about the importance of Latina voters, her comments were seen as erasing the contributions of Black women, who had voted for Biden in even larger percentages than Latina voters.
6.
Jamie Lee Curtis might have been trying to say something about the danger of making assumptions, but her comments on Ana de Armas still felt a little problematic. When Jamie met Ana de Armas on the set of Knives Out, she says she thought de Armas was “unsophisticated” and a new actor because she was from Cuba. “I assumed — and I say this with real embarrassment — because she had come from Cuba, that she had just arrived,” she said. “I made an assumption that she was an inexperienced, unsophisticated young woman. That first day, I was like, ‘Oh, what are your dreams?'” Many felt Jamie’s story just portrayed her own racism.
7.
In what appeared to be an attempt to show how important it is to grow and listen to the younger generation, Matt Damon seemed to frame having only recently “retired” the f-slur as if it was a good thing. In an interview, he claimed that after he made a joke using the slur, his daughter gave him a “treatise” on the subject. “The word that my daughter calls the ‘f-slur for a homosexual’ was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application,” Damon said. After making the joke, “She left the table. I said, ‘Come on, that’s a joke! I say it in the movie Stuck on You!'”
8.
Responding to those who were posting comments about her daughter True’s skin color in an Instagram photo, Khloé Kardashian wrote on X (then Twitter) that “I truly love educating others and hopefully opening up their minds to a beautiful collective world” and noted that “all skin tones/ethnicities” were beautiful. However, she wrote, “I try to put myself in their shoes &maybe they were brought up in a different type of household then I was. So instead of shaming I try to educate. In our household we do not see color. We see emotion and action. We see love. We feed off of energy.” While Khloe’s comments were largely positive, people took issue with her description of how her household does not “see color,” saying it came from a place of privilege and denied the realities of racism.
9.
If we’re talking about the Kardashians, we have to mention Kim Kardashian’s comments on women in the workforce. Giving her advice to women, she said, “Get your f—ing ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days.” This may have been a type of tough love or encouragement (especially given that she later said, “Success is never easy. If you put in the work, you will see results”). Still, it came off as wildly out-of-touch considering the post-COVID struggle to find work and the fact that many Americans struggle to make ends meet even with a job.
10.
While receiving the Ally for Equality Award at a Human Rights Campaign event, Pink tried to make a point by announcing that she was gay…and then quickly taking it back. “My point is I would like the same boring response that I get from, ‘Hi, I’m a Virgo,'” Pink said. “I would like ‘Hi, I’m gay’ to elicit the same type of response.” While her intentions were good, the whole pretending-to-come-out thing was maybe not the best way to show support for a community she’s not a part of.
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Similarly, in response to a troll asking if she was trans after she posted a message of trans allyship, Alyssa Milano tweeted, “I’m trans. I’m a person of color. I’m an immigrant. I’m a lesbian. I’m a gay man. I’m the disabled. I’m everything.” Milano — who is none of the above, quickly started receiving backlash. Fans were also unhappy with her use of the term “the disabled.”
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One of the worst examples is when Kelly Osbourne thought she was making a powerful statement about the value of immigrants and ended up suggesting immigrants are necessary because they clean toilets. After the controversy, Osbourne said she’d made a “poor choice of words” but said she would “not apologize for being racist as I am NOT.”
13.
While many stars chimed in with impactful stories in the wake of the #metoo movement, Mayim Bialik maybe should’ve kept silent. In an op-ed for the New York Times, Bialik spoke about how she hadn’t been a victim of the casting couch because she was not a “perfect 10” and had the “luxury” of being overlooked. She also spoke about her “self-protecting and wise” choices to reserve her “sexual self” for “private situations,” to “dress modestly,” and to retrain from acting “flirtatiously with men” — and seemed to suggest other women should do the same, though she acknowledged those “choices might feel oppressive to many young feminists.”
“In a perfect world, women should be free to act however they want. But our world isn’t perfect. Nothing — absolutely nothing — excuses men for assaulting or abusing women. But we can’t be naïve about the culture we live in,” she continued, adding that “having others celebrate your physical beauty is not the way to lead a meaningful life.” She finished, “If — like me — you’re not a perfect 10, know that there are people out there who will find you stunning, irresistible, and worthy of attention, respect, and love. The best part is you don’t have to go to a hotel room or a casting couch to find them.” It was an odd time to platform this perspective in a conversation about sexual assault and harassment, and even though Bialik was careful not to place blame on women, her words still served to put responsibility on women.
14.
In another example where Bialik felt the need to make a public statement about something that ended up shaming women, Bialik took issue with a billboard of Ariana Grande. In an article for a parenting site, she wrote, “I am a bleeding heart liberal without exception. But I am old-fashioned. My kids have clothes they only wear to synagogue. I don’t favor my kids cursing. I dress modestly. I don’t want my kids learning about sex from billboards. Stuff like that. Which is why a few billboards I have seen lately really bug me. There is one for Ariana Grande, and I will go ahead and admit I have no idea who she is or what she does. Based on the billboard, she sells lingerie. Or stiletto heels. Or plastic surgery because every woman over 22 wishes she has that body, I’m sure.”
“Why is she in her underwear on this billboard though? And if she has a talent (is she a singer?), then why does she have to sell herself in lingerie?” Bialik continued. “I mean, I know that society is patriarchal and women are expected to be sexy and sexually available no matter what we do in society, but I guess now I need to explain that to my sons?” Fans were left wondering why Bialik needed to make this statement, feeling it only served to shame women.
15.
Lena Dunham once made the head-scratching statement that she wished she’d had an abortion, which many felt trivialized how difficult the experience of getting an abortion can be. Speaking on her podcast about visiting a Planned Parenthood in Texas, she said she was asked to share her abortion story. “I sort of jumped. ‘I haven’t had an abortion.’ … I wanted to make it really clear to her that as much as I was going out and fighting for other women’s options, I myself had never had an abortion. And I realized then that even I was carrying within myself stigma around this issue. … It was an important moment for me then to realize that I had internalized some of what society was throwing at us. And I had to put it in the garbage.” She continued, “Now I can say that I still haven’t had an abortion, but I wish I had.”
16.
Ahead of cohosting the 2022 Oscars, Amy Schumer discussed the potential to platform global issues at the ceremony. She even said she wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speak (the Academy reportedly refused). However, at the actual ceremony, Schumer only made a throwaway reference to Ukraine, lumping the conflict in with attacks on women’s and trans rights. “There’s a genocide going on in the Ukraine and women are losing all their rights and trans people…and now please welcome Anthony Hopkins,” she said before giving the floor to Hopkins, who was introducing Best Actress.
17.
Sean Penn also made a Ukraine-related gesture that many felt was empty. After discussing the Academy’s reported refusal of having President Zelenskyy Zoom in to the ceremony, Penn ranted over what became the biggest moment of the night instead — Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. “The Oscars producer thought, ‘Oh, he’s not light-hearted enough.’ Well, guess what you got instead? Will Smith! … This fucking bullshit wouldn’t have happened with Zelenskyy. Will Smith would never have left that chair to be part of stupid violence. It never would have happened.” He then said he wanted to destroy his Oscars by melting them down to be made into bullets for Ukraine to use against Russia.
Penn actually ended up following through, giving one of his statues to President Zelenskyy. “This is for you. It’s just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here, then I’ll feel better and strong enough for the fights,” he told Zelenskyy. “When you win, bring it back to Malibu, because I’ll feel much better knowing there’s a piece of me here.”
“The Oscar is there in his office, and ready to be melted any time he wants to melt it,” he later told the press, calling the gift “a small gesture, symbolic between two friends — inspired by my continuing shame towards the leadership of the Motion Picture Academy in choosing to present Will Smith smacking Chris Rock rather than the greatest symbol of cinema and humanity living today. Their loss.” While it was a nice gesture, giving an Oscar to a war-torn country felt sort of useless, especially given Penn kept bringing up Will Smith and the Academy rather than the war in Ukraine.
18.
After the investigation regarding Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s rape allegations, Bette Midler paraphrased a John Lennon and Yoko Ono song by tweeting, “Women, are the n word of the world.” She continued, “Raped, beaten, enslaved, married off, worked like dumb animals; denied education and inheritance; enduring the pain and danger of childbirth and life IN SILENCE for THOUSANDS of years. They are the most disrespected creatures on earth.” While it’s certainly true that women have endured discrimination and pain throughout history, her statement appeared to ignore the realities of racism in favor of sexism.
19.
Madonna has made several similar comments that attempted to platform women’s rights but ended up being problematic. In 2015, she said, “Women are still the most marginalized group” and that “it’s moved along for the gay community, for the African American community, but women are still just trading on their ass.”
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Also in 2015, she said that ageism is “still the one area where you can totally discriminate against somebody and talk shit. Because of their age. Only females, though. Not males. So in that respect, we still live in a very sexist society. No one would dare to say a degrading remark about being Black or dare to say a degrading remark on Instagram about someone being gay. But my age — anybody and everybody would say something degrading to me.” While meant to make a statement against ageism, her comments instead served to dismiss the issues that queer and Black people still face.
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She’s also made remarks specifically disparaging Black men. She once told Spin magazine, “I’ve always in this naive way identified with other minorities because I’m in a minority. You think that somehow unifies you in some philosophical way. But ultimately it doesn’t. Because I’ve found that being a strong female is actually more frightening to the Black men that I’ve dated. It took me a really long time to accept that. … I believe that I have never been treated more disrespectfully as a woman than by the Black men that I’ve dated. I’ve never actually said that to anybody, but it’s true, and I think it’s a cultural thing.” This time, Madonna’s comments on women’s rights served not only to dismiss racism as lesser than sexism, but also to place blame on Black men.
22.
After the 2020 Oscars declined to nominate any women for Best Director, Natalie Portman attempted to make a positive statement by wearing a cape embroidered with the names of snubbed female directors to the ceremony. However, fans — and Rose McGowan — were quick to point out that Natalie Portman has her own production company, and the only female director it has ever hired is her. Portman has also rarely worked with female directors on feature films.
23.
She had previously said, “Here are the all-male nominees” when presenting for Best Director at the Golden Globes in 2018. While making a statement about the lack of female directors in Hollywood seems good, it felt like an empty remark coming from Portman.
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Similarly, at the 2018 Oscars, Emma Stone introduced Best Director by saying, “These four men and Greta Gerwig created their own masterpieces.” While some fans were thrilled at Stone calling out the lack of recognition and support for female directors in Hollywood, others felt that categorizing the four male nominees as “four men” was reductive, especially considering Jordan Peele had been nominated for Get Out. Peele was only the fifth-ever Black person to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar, and no Black person had ever won (conversely, a female director, Kathryn Bigelow, had won the award in 2009).
25.
Another celebrity who used an awards show speech to make a political statement that didn’t quite come off as they’d hoped is Meryl Streep. During her Golden Globes acceptance speech in 2017, she spoke out against President Donald Trump, saying, “Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts — which are not the arts.” While Streep’s comment was well-meaning, many took issue with her comments, especially in regard to martial arts.
26.
Speaking of Streep — she once served as the jury president of the Berlin Film Festival. At a press conference for the event, a reporter pointed out, “There is a film that is representing Tunisia and the Arab world and Africa in the main competition,” then asked Streep, “How do you see this part of the world, and is it easy for you to understand that culture, and are you following any Arab movies?” Streep replied that she had seen Theeb and Timbuktu but didn’t “know very much about the Middle East.”
“And yet I’ve played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures,” she continued. “The thing that I’ve noticed is that there is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture. And, after all, we’re all from Africa originally; we’re all Berliners; we’re all Africans, really.” Streep faced backlash for her comments, especially considering the all-white jury for the festival, and her comments that “This jury is evidence that at least women are included and in fact dominate this jury, and that’s an unusual situation in bodies of people who make decisions.” Many felt she was downplaying the importance of racial diversity.
27.
Many have accused Taylor Swift of white feminism, where only the perspective of white women is platformed, erasing the issues women of color face. In one example, she called out Nicki Minaj for “pit[ting] women against each other” after Minaj criticized the VMAs for not nominating “Anaconda” for Best Video. As Minaj hadn’t named Taylor (whose video was nominated) and had brought up valid points about the lack of body diversity in popular music, many were bothered Swift had centered the conversation around her. Others felt that dismissing valid concerns about representation in a female achievement category as anti-women because it “pits women against each other” was reductive and only served to reinforce a homogenous version of feminism centered around thin, white bodies.
28.
Lana Del Rey has often been accused of glamorizing abuse in her music. Speaking out against these accusations, Del Rey posted a lengthy statement on Instagram called “Question for the culture,” where she wrote that she was just a “glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent emotionally abusive relationships all around the world.” She also questioned how other artists were able to get away with sexually explicit music, while she was “crucified” for her own lyrics. While Del Rey made some valid points, the fact that she almost exclusively called out Black artists in her post, along with her statement, “There has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me,” caused backlash.
29.
I don’t know what it is with white celebrities and George Floyd, but some of them did some truly questionable things in their attempts to speak out about police brutality. Like David Geutta, who, while livestreaming a DJ set for COVID relief, said he’d “made a special record in honor of George Floyd,” adding, “shoutout to his family” before playing an EDM mashup of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
30.
Guetta was not the only one who did something weird. Like…why did Heather Morris (y’know, from Glee) take to Instagram to share an interpretive dance piece she’d choreographed in Floyd’s honor? It felt, at best, bizarre and, at worst, wildly inappropriate.
31.
Similarly, Lili Reinhart made some fans cringe when she posted a nude photo on Instagram with a caption about Breonna Taylor. “Now that my sideboob has gotten your attention, Breonna Taylor’s murderers have not been arrested,” she wrote. “Demand justice.” While it’s good to draw attention to cases of racist police violence, using nudity to do it felt…strange.
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In another attempt at allyship, I guess, Mark Ruffalo once inexplicably tweeted that “I said a prayer the other day and when God answered me back she was a Black Woman.” This isn’t offensive, but it felt weirdly performative to tweet about… as if he wanted brownie points.
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Celebs can be super weird about activism in general, and I have to bring up a few more examples. Like, um, the time AnnaLynne McCord wrote a poem to Vladimir Putin about how things would be different if she were his mother. It’s an odd response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and left fans wondering what the actual point was.
34.
Demi Lovato has made many impactful statements about disordered eating. Still, her statements fell flat when she called out local Los Angeles yogurt shop The Bigg Chill (known for its sugar-free, vegan, and gluten-free options) on her Instagram. She wrote, “Finding it extremely hard to order froyo from @TheBiggChillOfficial when you have to walk past tons of sugar free cookies/other diet foods before you get to the counter. Do better please. @DietCultureVultures.” She then wrote, “So I think I’m gonna have to make that hashtag a thing. I will be calling harmful messaging from brands or companies that perpetuate a society that not only enables but praises disordered eating.”
After fans — and the shop itself — pointed out that The Bigg Chill is known for its options for people with dietary restrictions (such as those with celiac or diabetes), Lovato doubled down, telling the brand they should label their sugar-free and vegan options as being “for celiac or diabetes or vegans.” Fans were still disappointed in Demi’s response, especially as she disparaged a small local business during the pandemic, when many businesses struggled. She later apologized, but said, “My intuition said speak up about this, so I did. And I feel good about that. What I don’t feel good about is some of the way it’s been interpreted and how the message has gotten misconstrued.”
35.
And finally, Olivia Wilde made multiple comments suggesting Don’t Worry Darling‘s sex scenes were empowering toward women. In an interview with Vogue, she questioned, “Why isn’t there any good sex in film anymore?” and brought up the lack of female pleasure in cinema. In an interview with Variety, Olivia Wilde declared, “Men don’t come” in the film — “only women here!” Her comments seemed to suggest that the sex scenes were a vital, feminist component to her film — and then the film came out. (Spoilers ahead.)
In the film, Harry Styles’s character traps his girlfriend, played by Florence Pugh, in a fake 1950s-style reality, taking her from her job and her family and friends, and also brainwashing and gaslighting her into thinking this is all normal. In that context, the movie’s sex scenes feel highly coercive and uncomfortable rather than a celebration of women’s pleasure. Wilde’s comments feel especially off-color and reductive in that light…ESPECIALLY considering Pugh actively expressed her discomfort with the media’s focus on the sex scenes, which Wilde contributed to.
What’s another time a celeb really thought they *said something* that fell super flat? Let us know in the comments!
