Justin Bieber, now 20, is taking responsibility for using racial slurs as a teen. In two videos that surfaced in June, a younger Bieber can be seen using the "N" word on two separate occasions -- instances that he says were the result of his own ignorance. "As a young man, I didn't understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt. I thought it was OK to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn't realize at the time that it wasn't funny," the star said in a statement. 
Jonah Hill has also owned up to yelling a homophobic slur at a paparazzo, which was seen on a video released by TMZ on Tuesday, June 3. The actor said to the photographer, "Suck my d***, you f*****." He later told radio host Howard Stern that he was frustrated by his own words: "From the day I was born and publicly I've been a gay rights activist. ... I played into exactly what (the paparazzo) wanted and lost my cool. And in that moment, I said a disgusting word that does not at all reflect how I feel about any group of people." 
Actor James Franco criticized The New York Times' theater critic, Ben Brantley, over a lukewarm review of the Broadway revival "Of Mice and Men." "Brantley is such a little b****," the actor said in an April Instagram takedown that he later removed -- but not before it was screengrabbed for posterity. 
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow angered some after she was quoted in an interview comparing the "dehumanizing" experience of dealing with negative Internet comments to surviving a war. 
Reese Witherspoon might seem prim on the red carpet, but the actress has been caught making more than one slip of the tongue. When the actress was arrested in April 2013 after having "one drink too many," she chastised the arresting officer for not recognizing he was arresting a celebrity. "Do you know my name?" she asked. When the officer replied that he didn't, Witherspoon shot back, "You're about to find out who I am." 
And then there was the time Witherspoon was caught giving advice to Cara Delevingne, Kate Upton and Zooey Deschanel, reportedly after the 2014 Met Gala. The Southern actress was taped saying, "The most important thing in a name for a girl is that a man can whisper it in his pillow." 
Charles Barkley, while covering a basketball game for TNT, got caught on a hot mic while saying that his Weight Watchers endorsement deal was a "scam." The company saw the humor in it and released a statement saying: "We love Charles for the same reason everyone loves Charles. He's unfiltered." 
Adam Levine learned the hard way that you have to watch it before you speak. "The Voice" judge found himself facing some serious backlash in May 2013 after his disappointment over voting results led to him uttering, "I hate this country." He released a statement trying to clarify what he meant, saying that he was frustrated. 
Madonna was on her best behavior at the "W.E." news conference, seen here during the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. But at the Venice Film Festival that same year, she was caught saying "I absolutely loathe hydrangeas" after a fan gave her the flowers. 
Almost everything that Kanye West says can be met with a debate, and that includes his comment in November about his use of the Confederate flag on some of his new merchandise. The rapper told Los Angeles radio station 97.1 AMP that observers can "react how you want. Any energy is good energy. You know the Confederate flag represented slavery in a way -- that's my abstract take on what I know about it. So I made the song 'New Slaves.' So I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. It's my flag. Now what are you going to do?" 
Like Kanye West, Alec Baldwin's commentary is a magnet for controversy. From once calling his daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig" to using anti-gay slurs, it's no wonder that the actor is trying to keep quiet these days. There are times when he can't help himself, though, and his May arrest for riding his bike the wrong way was one of them. "New York City is a mismanaged carnival of stupidity," Baldwin tweeted upon his release. 
Politicians have to deal with this type of thing all of the time, and U.S. President Barack Obama is no exception. After Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV Awards in 2009, the commander-in-chief called the rapper a "jackass" while waiting for an interview to start. West was reportedly not amused. 
In January 2013, director Quentin Tarantino was doing press for his film "Django Unchained" when Britain's Channel 4 reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked him whether he thinks movie violence can lead to actual violence. Tarantino shot back, saying: "You can't make me dance to your tune. I'm not a monkey," and "I'm shutting your butt down!" 
When you're as famous as Britney Spears, it pays to first ask for someone to repeat the question. When she was asked for her thoughts on the passing of fellow former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello, the star accidentally responded, "I think that's great." 
Who can forget the 2005 "Today Show" interview when actor Tom Cruise, taking exception to Matt Lauer's questions, accused the host of being "glib"? "Matt, you're glib. ... You don't even know what Ritalin is," Cruise said during a discussion about prescription drugs. It was a little tense. 
Mel Gibson's mouth has been a famous source of trouble for the movie star, and in 2010 it happened again. The actor was being interviewed about his film "Edge of Darkness" by WGN reporter Dean Richards when Gibson was asked about various scandals, including an anti-Semitic rant. "That's almost four years ago, dude," Gibson said. "I've moved on. I guess you haven't." The actor could be heard calling Richards an a**hole at the end. 
Actor Samuel L. Jackson is not Laurence Fishburne, and he's been very clear about that. In February, Jackson scolded KTLA's Sam Rubin for misidentifying him. "You're as crazy as the people on Twitter," Jackson said during a live TV interview. "We may be all black and famous, but we all don't look alike. You're busted." 
In March, late-night host Chelsea Handler challenged CNN's Piers Morgan, calling him unfocused. "You can't even pay attention for 60 seconds," she said. "You're a terrible interviewer."
- Jonah Hill called photographer a gay slur after being antagonized by him all day
- Peggy Drexler: Hill publicly apologized, but paparrazi should lay off celebrities
- Hill's response was rooted in the same crude immaturity as that exhibited by his provoker
- Drexler: No excuse for the slur, but it does not reflect Hill's beliefs
Editor's note: Peggy Drexler is the author of "Our Fathers, Ourselves: Daughters, Fathers and the Changing American Family" and "Raising Boys Without Men." She is an assistant professor of psychology at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University and a former gender scholar at Stanford University. Join her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @drpeggydrexler. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- After a day spent being trailed by a photographer who taunted him, mocked his clothes and hurled insults about his family, actor Jonah Hill had had enough. "Suck my d***, you f****t," he said to the guy, very likely giving the paparazzo exactly what he wanted: a reaction and a profanity-and-slur laced one at that. The entire episode was caught on tape and eventually aired by gossip site TMZ.
Hill soon after made the rounds with an apology for using the anti-gay term, telling radio host Howard Stern on Tuesday that he is heartbroken he used such a "disgusting and hurtful" term.
On "The Tonight Show," he told host Jimmy Fallon that "the word I chose was grotesque."
But while Hill is left apologizing -- and surely, there is reason for him to do so -- the responsibility was not his alone.
After all, the entire episode was a set up, encouraged by a culture obsessed with celebrities and even more obsessed with celebrities behaving badly and a gossip media that rewards those who capture it. The paparazzi have been trained to push buttons, and they've gotten quite good at it.
Unlike some stars who, it might be suspected, exhibit bad behavior to court certain attention -- Alec Baldwin could be one -- Hill's response seemed genuinely reactionary, born out of pure emotion and frustration. As such, it is not likely to reflect what he really believes.
Hill has been outspoken supporter of gay rights. Last year, he told E! News that "I have tons of gay friends, gay family members." Before the Winter Olympics in Russia, he spoke out against Moscow's anti-gay laws.
Actor apologizes for using anti-gay slur 
Jonah Hill made WHAT in 'Wolf' role? So why, then, was his breaking point reaction a slur?
It probably had far less to do with genuine homophobic beliefs than with power and a feeling of loss of it so profound that it inspired a response rooted in the same crude immaturity as that exhibited by his provoker.
The photographer, as seen in the video, was antagonistic, his behavior akin to the taunts of a playground bully, and in a way few adults exhibit, or experience, after childhood. And so, in finally responding after refusing to engage, Hill used language the man would understand and words that he, and indeed many, might never say as an adult, especially an adult in 2014.
He had a temper tantrum-like reaction, calling on words he might have used at a time he was most inclined to have such outbursts and tantrums, when such words were not OK but you were less aware of what they meant.
It's key to remember that celebrities are forced to endure harassment all the time now and bear the burden of the consequences, too.
In 2009, Jude Law allegedly hit a female celebrity photographer after her camera flash went off in his face, although he claims it was untrue.
Hugh Grant once threw a tub of baked beans at a cameraman.
Nicole Richie had restraining orders issued against two photographers who sat outside her house all day, but not until after she doused them with water for trailing her.
While celebrities certainly are not perfect, the ones caught on camera, and the ones largely condemned, are inevitably not the ones holding it.
To make Hill's comments reflective of how he feels about gays and lesbians unfairly turns the responsibility entirely on him when the real blame is in the culture that rewards those who provoke this behavior and choose to interpret it in the worst way possible.
By suggesting these comments indicate that Hill is homophobic, aren't we, in effect, saying that we believe that's what he meant because what else would he mean?
In the end, Hill has behaved after his outburst in the most appropriate way possible, expressing believable remorse, explaining the motivations for the attack but also noting there was no excuse for what he said.
"If someone says something that hurt you or angers you, use me as an example of what not to do," he told Fallon. "Don't respond with hatred or anger, because you are just adding more ugliness to the world."
Perhaps the celebrity media would be wise to do the same.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion .
Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion .
No comments:
Post a Comment