Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Amy Schumer, Ariel Winter, Melissa McCarthy, Adele, Chris Pratt, Anne Hathaway…. the list could go on and on. The fact is no one, no matter how rich and famous you are, is immune to online shaming.
What can we learn when we witness these stars being digitally attacked?
Chrissy Teigen is frequently a target of mommy shaming, but recently she discovered a forum dedicated to blasting her – to a point where she admitted on The Today Show, that these cyber-bullets hurt. “It gets to me every time,” Teigen told TODAY about the nasty comments she sees on social media. “I feel like pregnancy is the time for them to warm you up to the shaming that’s about to come because they really go in on you.”
Teigen, like everyone, is tired of the online hate. “You realize you’re going to get it no matter what, and it started when I was pregnant,” Teigen said of the shaming comments on Today. “If I seem like I don’t care, I definitely care.”
When celebrities give a voice to online shaming and hate, it helps us recognize that we’re not alone if we’re struggling with it too. We have to keep in perspective, when famous people deal with insults and especially judgy parents — it’s magnified even more because they are famous.
“I think we get stuck in our own heads and worried about pleasing other people,” Teigan said. “You look around and realize that everyone has their headsets on, she’s not screaming or kicking seats, etc. You’ve got to either roll with it or deal with the anxiety of it. We choose to roll with it.”
With this statement, it’s about accepting it. In Shame Nation we discuss how you have to accept you have been shamed. Celebrities can teach us that they are doing this in the public eye, which truly compounds an already difficult situation.
What can we learn from celebrity online shaming:
- Shame doesn’t have to define us. We can change the narrative.
- Bad things do happen to good people. It’s doesn’t mean we are horrible human beings.
- Sometimes a little digital detox doesn’t hurt. From Leslie Jones to Justin Beiber and even Ed Sheeran – all came to a point where they decided they needed a break from social media. Eventually some came back – and some (like Ed Sheeran) is enjoying the break.
Digital shaming happened to you, just as it has to many others. It sucks, it hurts, it’s an emotional thrashing like no other—but we can survive it and, as cliché as it may sound, thrive from it.