In the op-ed culture director, Danielle Kwateng-Clark addresses Vanessa Hudgens' recent Instagram Live video about coronavirus and its effect on the world — which Vanessa has since apologized for.
In a matter of three months, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has gone from a mysterious sickness to a global pandemic that's resulted in at least 7,500 deaths worldwide — at least 100 in the United States (as of today, so far). Globally, it's resulted in nations closing their borders, medical supply shortages, an impending recession, and mass anxiety tied to a highly contagious form of the flu. By no means is coronavirus a joke.
Over the past week, "social distancing" has become a part of our vernacular, as a way to encourage people to help stop the spread of the disease. From this new societal law, we've seen a groundswell of creativity coming from social media in the form of Tiktok videos, online comedy shows, and, of course, our favorite celebrities hopping on to Instagram Live to interact with their followers. Vanessa Hudgens has been doing just that with her 38 million followers.
In addition to a High School Musical reenactment video, photolog of her 2B natural curl pattern, and festive St. Patrick's Day message, Vanessa has also been intermittently sharing moments of herself at home alone.
In one particularly incongruous post, she shares her thoughts on the ongoing crisis that, as of Monday, the trajectory of the coronavirus spread would potentially (according to a statement during a White House press conference on Monday) not be under control until July or August.
"Til July sounds like a bunch of bulls**t. I'm sorry," Vanessa says. "But like, it's a virus. I get it. Like, I respect it, but at the same time, like, even if everybody gets it... like, yea, people are going to die, which is terrible, but like inevitable. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't be doing this right now."
As expected, people immediately reacted.
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"Joining the worms for brains contingency that seems to be growing larger by the day," writer Evan Ross Katz noted on Twitter.
Vanessa issued an apology on Tuesday, via a video post. "Hey guys. So yesterday I did an Instagram Live and I realized today that some of my comments are being taken out of context," the 31-year-old says video IG Live. "It's a crazy time. It's a crazy crazy time, and I am at home and I am in lockdown, and that's what I hope you guys are doing too in full quarantine and staying safe and sane. Yea, I don't take this situation lightly by any means. I am home. So stay inside y'all."
She's right. It is a "crazy" time and staying safe and sane are vital to collective resistance against a global pandemic. She's also right to not take the situation lightly – and part of that is reading the room.
It's been said before, but we'll say it again: Celebrities may not consider themselves role models or exemplary leaders of the world, but they do have impressionable fans who will subscribe to whatever beliefs they posit. If they're an advocate for a cause, their fans will be too. And in the same way, if they're lackadaisical, misinformed, ignorant, or cavalier about a cause, their fans will be too.
As we've seen in the news, there are plenty of people who still do not see the serious nature of coronavirus. They're going to mass social gatherings, not respecting boundaries, and interacting with the world under a privileged lens of having magically strong immune systems. But the truth is, the sooner we all participate in flattening the curve of coronavirus, the sooner it can be quelled and/or eradicated.
As Vanessa once poignantly said, "we're all in this together." So maybe, we should act like it.
