Princewill Pius
In March 2020, Vanessa Hudgens had her most controversial moment to date when she took to Instagram Live and made light of the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking about increasing social distancing efforts happening around the country, she said (via NBC News), “Um, yeah, ’til July sounds like a bunch of bulls**t. I’m sorry. It’s a virus, I get it. Like, I respect it.” Hudgens continued, “But at the same time, like, even if everybody gets it, like, yeah, people are gonna die, which is terrible but, like, inevitable?”
Unsurprisingly, the Twittersphere reaction was swift and brutal — “The callousness is more of a disease than Covid 19,” wrote one person on Twitter — prompting Hudgens to return to Instagram Live. Rather than offering a straight-up apology, however, she accused people of taking her comments “out of context,” but did clarify that she was in fact “at home and in lockdown.” She added, “And that’s what I hope you guys are doing, too, in full quarantine and staying safe and sane.”
It wasn’t until later that Hudgens released an actual apology on Twitter, writing, “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 to the significance my words have, now more than ever.” She concluded, “I’m sending safe wishes to everyone to stay safe and healthy during this crazy time.”
Written by: Nicki
