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Now is the era of our discontent, made odious sooner by this sum of news. With the dawn of the 24/7 reporting cycle, the sheer volume of content being forced down our gullets on a daily basis is enough to make you regurgitate alarmist headlines for days. If a celebrity is promoting a movie, does something of note (either onscreen or in real life), posts something inflammatory on social media, or — heaven forbid — steps out flaunting her makeup-free face amid Nick Jonas dating rumors (if you don’t speak British tabloid clickbait, that’s Daily Mail headline speak for “female famous person photographed existing outside”), they’re considered fair game for public condemnation.
With so very many hours in each news cycle to fill, there’s time for the facts, additional information, expert opinions, random Twitter users’ blather, professional writers' think pieces, a Facebook rant from that girl you knew in elementary school who was kind of a bully (and is now a mom of three), and, of course, the inevitable backlash.
Ah yes, backlash. Every now and then, it’s deserved. But often, it's not.
Sometimes, the public just doesn’t realize that they’ve been overexposed to someone and need a break — sort of like a baby needing a nap. Just lie down, and when you wake up, you'll be ready find to Jennifer Lawrence charming again. Other times, a media outlet tries to pick a fight or create a vendetta against a celebrity because a writer has a personal bias against him or her. Most of these writers don’t actually know the celebrity in question, but if we could take everyone to backlash court, most cases would likely be dismissed due to subjectivity and lack of evidence.
Ahead, we review just a few of the times celebrities were on the receiving end of backlash they didn’t really deserve.
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