Mind your language: This has given birth to a wave of condemnation towards such behaviour
The year 2017 has been nothing short than phenomenal, where some of the most influential and powerful men were exposed for their sexual assaults and abuse. This has given birth to a wave of condemnation towards such behaviour.
Recently, American news and cable network, MSNBC decided not to renew its contract with comedian, writer, actor Sam Seder, after an old tweet resurfaced where he had joked about film director Roman Polanski raping his daughter. In 2009, Seder tweeted (which he later deleted) “Don’t care re Polanski, but I hope if my daughter is ever raped it is by an older truly talented man w/a great sense of mise en scene (sic)”.
Well, this is not the first time that people, especially celebrities, have lost their jobs for making insensitive comments or remarks. There have been many. In fact, some of them might even surprise you.
IN TROUBLE
Alec Baldwin
In 2013, MSNBC cancelled the ill-tempered Alec Baldwin’s show, Up Late With Alec Baldwin, after he was caught on video allegedly calling a photographer a “co**su*****f**” The 30 Rock star denied using the second part of the phrase.
Paula Deen
American celebrity chef Paula Deen lost out on her show, book deals and endorsement contracts in 2013, after being sued by a former employee for making a racial slur and sexual discrimination.
Charlie Sheen
Bad boy Charlie Sheen was fired from his hit sitcom Two And A Half Men. CBS cancelled the season’s remaining episodes and terminated the actor’s contract after he made derogatory anti-semitic remarks about show creator Chuck Lorre in a 2011 radio interview. Sheen was quickly fired and was replaced by Ashton Kutcher.
John Galliano
In 2011, fashion designer John Galliano, head designer for Givenchy, lost his next job as the head of Christian Dior, after making controversial racist and anti-semitic remarks at people in a bar in Paris. Also, he was fined by the local court for it.
Insensitive comments by B-Town folks
While our Bollywood celebs haven’t made any outright offensive comments and got fired, some of them have been guilty of insensitive remarks for which they received a lot of flak. Here are some examples:
Sidharth Malhotra
In August this year, around the release of his movie, A Gentleman, Sidharth Malhotra tweeted to the people of Haryana and Punjab to stay safe during the riots in the Baba Ram Rahim case, “To all the people of Haryana , please stay safe. Hope you can see our film soon #Agentleman #PeaceAndLove” and he was trolled for it.
John Abraham
In September this year, John Abraham tried to plug his upcoming movie Parmaanu while tweeting about North Korea’s nuclear testing. “The 6.3 Magnitude tremor dectected at a #NorthKorea test site. That makes my film #parmanuthestoryofpokhran even more relevant #NuclearTest”. No surprises, he got trolled for it.
Salman Khan
In 2016, while speaking about the gruelling schedule of his movie Sultan, Salman Khan said that when he used to walk out of the boxing ring, he felt like a “raped woman”. Khan received a lot of flak for his comment.
Should they exercise self-censorship?
Celebrities are role models as they play a big part in influencing people. Clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Mansi Hassan, says, “They are perceived as the epitome of perfection and with that, it is assumed that they carry the responsibility of being, what we would call, the good valued responsible adults. Hence, when they make comments that are rude or insensitive, it not only breaks their image of being a ‘hero’, but is also a big turn off. Secondly, it adds to influencing people negatively. People tend to ape negative behaviour thinking that if a celebrity can do it and get positive or negative attention, even they can.”
Indian celebrities are gradually changing
Dr Anjali Chhabria, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, offers a different perspective. She notes that Indian celebrities are gradually aping their Western counterparts in terms of creating a social image by being vocal about injustice within the industry and also at times in their vicinity or around the globe. “Bollywood celebs are taking Twitter wars and news channel interviews quite seriously in recent times,” she says.
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