Were These Celebrity Apologies Sincere?
When a celebrity does something their fans don’t approve of, they usually come up with an apology soon after. In many cases, the apology is sincere and comes from the heart, other times it’s just for the sake of pleasing and appeasing the crowd of angry commenters. Seeing as most celebrities have people who manage their social media accounts it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not. Ultimately it comes down to the fans to decide. We’ve compiled some of the most surprising stories of celebrities making a public apology.
You can be the judge and decide whether what they said came from the heart or came from a careful focus group of corporate suits.
Terry Crews
Sometimes not saying enough is just as bad as saying too much. When one of your co-workers suffers from a bad work environment and racial insensitivity it’s important to support them. Former America’s Got Talent judge Gabrielle Union was forced to quit her position on the show after speaking out about the toxic work environment.
Crews, who hosted the show for over three years, responded to her situation by stating that he never experienced any racism while working there. After some retaliation from other celebrities, he went on to Twitter to apologize. But did that make things better? His fans seem to think so. We’re assuming Crews won’t have another slip-up like this.
Wendy Williams
When you’re a talk-show host for a long time, you can get too comfortable and spew some nonsense you don’t mean. Like giving a backward compliment to another celebrity without thinking of how other people will take it. We don’t think she meant anything bad by her comment, but she could’ve thought of a better way to phrase this.
It’s never a good idea to call someone “oddly” anything, especially in front of thousands of avid viewers. Luckily people didn’t stay silent and helped her see the error of her ways. She imminently apologized and even donated money to Operation Smile and the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association.
50 Cent
There’s no reason to make fun of someone’s appearance, especially when they’ve made themselves vulnerable. Lingerie is intended to make the wearer feel attractive and desired, dismissing these feelings can be hurtful and demeaning. Luckily, Madonna didn’t stay silent and reprimanded 50 Cent for his insensitive comments about her body.
Understanding the error of his ways, he imminently deleted his previous tweet and posted a new one apologizing for his hurtful words. We know that it can be easy to make fun of people on social media, people don’t always understand that there’s another person on the other side of the screen. But we hope he learned from this experience and won’t repeat this mistake.
John Mulaney
Being a famous comedian is hard, the more popular you get the more people there are to criticize what you say. Luckily, Mulaney is lovable enough that his fans can forgive him when he cancels a show to host Saturday Night Live. Especially when he went on to post a funny and creative apology letter.
It really shows how creative he is and why he was highly qualified to write for and host one of the biggest sketch shows in America. We can’t think of a better way to apologize to people you stood up, except by giving them the show they’ve been waiting for.
Scheana Shay
The number of people who refused to comply with health regulations during COVID was alarming. We didn’t realize how divided we were until people refused to wear masks and self-quarantine despite watching thousands of people fall ill and die. We think that the worst offenders were D-list celebs like Scheana Shay.
Deliberately hosting parties and meetings to spite others was damaging and destructive behavior. Luckily most of those who tried to defy the quarantine laws were quickly dealt with by the police. Honestly, we think that her apology was half-baked, she needs to dig a little deeper and understand what she did wrong.
Vanessa Hudgens
If there’s anything positive that happened over the last couple of years it’s that we managed to see the true faces of some insensitive celebrities. Many were fervent deniers of the pandemic and believed that everything on the news was a hoax. They would go on to say insensitive things to the public and receive the appropriate backlash.
The former High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens was one of those people. The most insensitive thing she could’ve said on her live feed was that people’s deaths were “inevitable.” We guess it’s easy for her to say when she’s less likely to be the one to get severely sick.
Evangeline Lilly
Nothing screams self-centered like saying that your freedom is more important than the pandemic. A lot of celebrities failed to grasp the severity of the situation. After all, it’s hard to see the real world when you live in a Hollywood mansion. Lilly really screwed the pooch on this one with her terrible attempt at “calming” the situation.
Usually, people who complained about having a hard time with quarantine were those who live in small apartments. Hollywood stars have no right to say they can’t handle staying at home all day when their houses are as big as a golf course. Though in our humble opinion, the apology was heartfelt.
Lea Michele
It seems like Michele resembled her self-centered character from Glee a little too closely. In fact, it turns out that she was a bully and a pain in the butt to work on the set. She was called out by one of her former co-stars Samantha Marie Ware for her actions.
It was kind of hypocritical of her to support the Black Lives Matter movement after making Ware’s life on set “a living hell.” We know people can grow and better themselves, but it doesn’t excuse their past actions. Especially when you consider that Ware wasn’t the first co-star to speak up about Michele’s diva behavior.
Rihanna
Even the most beloved artists are bound to make some mistakes here and there. One of Rihanna’s oopsies happened during one of her modeling shows when the models danced to a song with Hadith’s narration. For those unfamiliar, the Hadiths are words and deeds that Muhammad did during his lifetime.
Many of her Muslim fans saw it as insensitive and called her out on it. We think that Rihanna had no malicious intent behind putting this song. But even honest mistakes need to be addressed and dealt with. Luckily she owned up to the mishap, going on social media and ensuring her fans that such mistakes won’t happen again.
Morgan Wallen
There was nothing more frustrating than celebrities who undermined the rules and regulations pandemic. As public figures, they should set a better example for people. Whoever took the video of Wallen dancing without a mask at a party did everybody else a huge favor. We’re glad that SNL dropped him as a result.
No amount of apologies can get you off the hook for this one. Not only did he jeopardize his own life, but also the lives of everyone he came in contact with. It seems like being rich and famous distances a person from the reality we live in. Are the non-famous just not important enough to them?
Anne Hathaway
Sometimes celebrities will play characters with different physical characteristics than themselves. This is something that people have started calling into question in recent years. In the movie “The Witch”, Hathaway plays the evil Grand High Witch, who only has three fingers. This portrayal of limb difference was seen in a negative light.
When the issue came to her attention she rushed to social media to apologize to her fans with limb differences. She said she didn’t really think about how it would make others feel when she took on the role. At the same time, the director and Warner Brothers put out an apology as well although it was less personal and more corporate.
The Recording Academy
When you’re being invited to host a show of any kind, it’s assumed that the company inviting you will cover your expenses. However, this wasn’t the case at the 63rd Grammy Awards, when Tiffany Haddish was asked to pay out of her own pocket for the pre-telecast ceremony. Flabbergasted by the audacity of their request, she declined the offer.
The disrespectful demands were later addressed by the Academy head Harvey Mason Jr., who wasn’t informed of this decision before the invitation. He obviously understood why Haddish turned down the offer and stated that if he had known ahead of time he wouldn’t have let it happen.
Demi Lovato
Being self-righteous is a celebrity’s worst trait. All the fame and attention make some of them think they’re better than others. Some of them find a niche group they feel connected to and advocate for it as if they were elected for the job. Many times they will end up biting off more than they can chew and find themselves in an uncomfortable situation.
Demi Lovato misunderstood a frozen yogurt store’s new deals that offer people with diabetes and celiac disease a “guilt-free” option. But Lovato didn’t see it that way and went on a day-long rant about the store. Eventually, their fans pointed out the error of their ways and they apologized for the misunderstanding.
Justin Timberlake
Timberlake has been in the business for a very long time. From being in a boy band to launching his solo career and getting into acting, it seems like he can do it all. As it turns out he couldn’t take responsibility for people he wronged throughout his career, especially female celebs like Britney Spears and Janet Jackson. This was something he ended up rectifying.
When his relationship with Britney ended he used it as an opportunity to boost his career while she was dragged through the mud. Plus, he never supported Jackson after the infamous 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction. Eventually, guilt caught up to him and he issued an apology. But was it too little too late?
Sophia Urista
Rock concerts can get out of hand, there’s so much energy in the air that some performers end up doing something stupid to “shock” the crowd. From eating live bats to throwing cakes and forming mosh pits, you’d think there’s nothing a performer can do to piss off his fan base. Well, you’d be wrong.
During a performance at the Rockville concert in Daytona, a male fan was brought onto the stage by Urista to lay on the floor. She then took off her pants, squatted over him, and proceeded to urinate on his head in front of everyone. Although some probably didn’t mind the act, many voiced their disgust. After a while Urista made a post on Instagram apologizing.
Perez Hilton
Britney Spears was once known for being the scapegoat of the entertainment industry. So many celebrities had made fun of her life choices and career that it became a common topic of conversation. One of these celebs was Perez Hilton, who wasn’t afraid of calling her an unfit mother among other unflattering comments.
It was only after The New York Times made a documentary about Spears that the public realized how poorly they’d been treating her. A massive backlash was imminent for all the celebrities who used to mock her, and Hilton was no exception. In an appearance on Good Morning Britain, he apologized profusely and owned up to his mistakes.
Tiger Woods
These days when a famous person cheats on their significant other it either stays behind closed doors or is disregarded as nothing special. But it’s interesting to see how Woods’s case was so different. Not only did he give a 13-and-a-half-minute public apology, but the scandal was also covered by several news outlets for quite some time.
His apology seemed sincere, though it appeared his then-wife Elin Nordegren didn’t care for it. Not too long after the allegations came to light the couple got a divorce. When your partner has been unfaithful it’s hard to stay with them, even if you try to make it work.
Katherine Heigl
Every friend group has that one person who does extremely embarrassing things. That’s basically Katherine Heigl in the cemetery photos that now circulate the world wide web. It’s a good thing she explained why she did it, otherwise we wouldn’t know what to think. Granted, it’s not the worst thing someone did at a cemetery, and if she wasn’t a celebrity maybe it would’ve flown under the radar.
But because she is, the public is privy to any outlandish behavior she chooses to put on display. After realizing her mistake she quickly removed the pictures and issued an apology via Instagram to all her fans.
Kanye West
It’s not surprising that one of the most controversial people on the planet had to issue a public apology. What’s surprising is that despite all the foolish things he did and said throughout the years, his divorce is what puts him in the spotlight. Kanye has been under fire for publicly sharing private text messages between him and his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
It’s funny how his apology mentioned how he needs to work on his communication skills, seeing as his entire career is built around words and communication. All in all, his apology seemed kind of insincere and aimed to appease his angry fans. We hope that with time he’ll learn and grow from his mistakes.
Will Smith
Will Smith delivered the infamous slap that shook the world and put every comedian on their toes. We all know what happened at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony. We’re not sure if it was all the memes and jokes revolving around Smith and his wife’s relationship that finally made him snap, but he did. And it was a slap the world will never forget.
But it seems his apology was as emotional as his slap. We know how loving and passionate he is, especially when it comes to his family. Maybe he was going through something and that joke was the last straw, but there were definitely better ways to deal with it than slapping someone in front of millions of viewers.
Neil Patrick Harris
The internet has a funny way of digging up old events and making them relevant again. Take Neil Patrick Harris’s 2011 Halloween party where he made a cake in the shape of Amy Winehouse as a corpse. Granted she did pass away three months before the event, so we understand why people would think it was in poor taste.
Honestly, we’re surprised it didn’t hit the front page the same year it happened. Harris said that he felt regret after presenting the cake to his guests and this feeling stayed with him until he was called out. Maybe it was a foolish mistake in the spur of the moment, but you can’t deny it was extremely tasteless.
Jason Momoa
There’s nothing new about celebrities receiving special treatment. Whenever it happens we’re always quick to point out how unfair it is. And Jason Momoa is certainly famous enough to get special treatment. On a trip to Vatican City, he visited the Sistine Chapel where he took pictures admiring the amazing work of Michelangelo.
Apparently, taking pictures is prohibited as the camera’s flash can damage the paintings. Obviously, it wasn’t Momoa’s intention to cause harm and he wasn’t even aware of the prohibition. When fans pointed it out he was quick to apologize. Considering this was an honest mistake, we think his apology was genuine. This definitely wasn’t a case of a celeb thinking they’re superior.
Selena Gomez
Sometimes fans can make up a conflict between two celebs, even if it has no basis in reality. This is especially true if the two stars have shared a romantic partner, fans might think there’s bad blood between them. In this case, Hailey Bieber fans were quick to jump the gun at Selena Gomez over a skincare video where they thought she was being shady toward their idol.
Since they both dated Justin Bieber, some fans believe there’s a rivalry between the two female stars. After the backlash, Gomez was quick to respond and delete the TikTok video without understanding what the problem was.
Drew Barrymore
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you know that the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial is one of the most talked-about events over the past couple of weeks. It sparked so many debates about gender equality, defamation, and ultimately who’s in the wrong. Over time, many jokes and memes about the trial’s events began popping up.
However, several aspects of the trial were nothing to laugh at, like the domestic abuse allegations that were brought up. But some people like Drew Barrymore felt comfortable making fun of the topic. Luckily her fans were quick to put her back in place and she ended up apologizing profusely on her talk show.
Lizzo
One of the greatest difficulties with writing songs is finding words that fit the message you’re trying to convey. But some words are viewed in a less positive light than others. Nowadays people are more sensitive toward terms that malign a minority group. When Lizzo’s new song featured an ableist term, fans were pretty shocked
Lizzo made the mistake of using the word “spaz” in her song “Grrrls” which many felt was offensive, especially considering the singer’s prevailing message of acceptance throughout her career. The word was eventually changed and the singer put out a public apology on Twitter acknowledging her mistake. Many feel that her apology sets a great example for others.
Barbara Corcoran
Nothing’s worse than cracking a joke on-air at the expense of someone else, especially if they’re sitting right next to you. We’re sure Barbara Corcoran didn’t mean to offend Whoopi Goldberg and make her feel uncomfortable in front of millions of people. But at the end of the day, that’s what happened and the internet was quick to devour the shark tank investor online.
Some people also brought up Goldberg’s sciatica which makes her life a whole lot harder. For those unfamiliar, it’s a medical condition caused by the pinching or compression of a nerve in your lower back. As a result, the pain radiates through your lower back all the way to your leg. Luckily Goldberg didn’t take any offense to the remark and said that it would take a lot more to offend her.
Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen is best known for her amazing zingers at Trump which were so scathing that he ended up blocking her on Twitter. Her rise to fame came at the expense of others as she would joke and make fun of people nobody really liked. But little did she know that this would also be her downfall. Teigen crossed the line when she made fun of Courtney Stodden when she was only sixteen.
When Stodden hit the legal driving age, she got married to Doug Hutchison, a 50-year-old acting coach. A bizarre union no doubt, but is it worth making fun of? Teigen thought it was. After years of silence, Stodden finally spoke up about the abusive jokes and private messages Teigen had sent her and how damaging it was to her self-image.
Bob Iger
Disney is probably the biggest movie and film industry out there, creating and owning most films that shaped our childhood. If there’s anything all generations have in common it’s their affinity for Disney movies and their impact on our youth. But even the best company in the world has cutthroat lawyers and people whose job it is to terminate those who pirate their content.
As far as we know, there’s a difference between pirating a movie and showing it to kids at school as part of a non-profit fundraiser. We believe that Disney was in the wrong for suing the school and we’re glad that Iger swooped in and “saved the day”. We don’t know how much he donated to the fundraising initiative but we hope it was more than the fine.
Wendy Williams
The LGBTQ+ movement has made tremendous efforts to further the image of the community. Thanks to them, people are more accepting and understanding than they’ve ever been. But there’s still a lot of progress to be made. There are still public figures who feel comfortable disparaging a minority group for the way they dress.
Not even 30 days after commenting on Joaquin Phoenix’s cleft lip she went on a rant against gay men. It seems like she really had an issue with them wearing “skirts and heels.” Something that her fans were quick to call her out for. Later she issued a tearful video apology to her LGBTQ+ fans asking for their forgiveness.
Tyra Banks
On one hand, calling out celebrities for something they did ages ago is kind of redundant. They can’t exactly change the outcome of their actions, and they’ve likely grown and changed since. On the other hand, it’s important to remind people that this kind of behavior shouldn’t have been acceptable. When Tyra Banks hosted America’s Next Top Model, she said some very off-putting things.
We have no doubt that she has changed and matured ever since 2006, but we appreciate that people are calling out this kind of behavior. Luckily she was a sport about it and responded immediately with a heartfelt apology, sending virtual hugs and love to everyone.