Melissa Joan Hart is currently receiving quite a bit of heat over an Instagram photo she shared yesterday. The post was about Hurricane Maria, and many perceived it as toned-deaf and inappropriate.
The image posted by Hart featured a screen shot of the news alert announcing that Hurricane Maria had made landfall on the Caribbean Island of Dominica and that it was now being identified as a Category 5 hurricane. Obviously, that was upsetting news for all of us as it means that the people of Dominica and surrounding areas were faced with a devastating storm, but the former Sabrina The Teenage Witch star, insensitively, decided to make the news about her and her family vacation. She wrote in the caption of the photo, "And just like that, our family vacation is canceled. Such a bummer but we plan to hit the @nickresortpuntacana resort another time this year."
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Since your Instagram post disappeared. Thought I'd help you find it. pic.twitter.com/ZIXuFYdBc4
— Paul Baker (@peb1225) September 19, 2017
The actress and mother of three has since taken the photo down from Instagram, but before she did, fans jumped on the opportunity to comment and call her out for her being selfish. According to the New York Daily News, one user wrote, "Yea- you should take this down. Unless of course you want everyone to despise you."
To her credit, after removing the post, Hart has shared more than one positive and kind images that showed support to those affected by Hurricane Maria. Just a few hours ago, she reposted a photo the Puerto Rican flag that was originally shared by Salma Hayek. The flag has hands in the shape of a heart in front of it, and accompanying the picture, Hart wrote, "My thoughts are with all my friends in Puerto Rico and the surrounding islands that are being hit by #hurricaneMaria today."
Earlier today, she also posted in support of Mexico and those affected by the recent earthquakes there, so perhaps the post about her vacation was just a momentary lapse in judgment and doesn't actually reflect her character.
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