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Have You Ever Been So Mad You Turned Racist? Examining the Celebrity Freakout

By Courtney Enlow | Think Pieces | November 18, 2013 |

By Courtney Enlow | Think Pieces | November 18, 2013 |


We all find ourselves in frustrating situations from time to time. For celebrities, these frustrating times are usually quite public. As we are generally privy to the reactions of famous people when dealing with moments of struggle, can we judge their personalities by their responses in times of relative crisis? Can you judge anyone’s personalities in times of crisis?

There have been several times in my life when I’ve gotten so mad that I’ve said things I didn’t mean to say. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t mean them. For many of us, it’s in these truly angry, vulnerable moments when we display our most wretched truths.

So, for people, famous and otherwise, who blast hatespeak when driven past the edge of their filters, wouldn’t it stand to reason *that’s* the real them?

If so, we can assume Zach Braff is the kind of asshole who attacks children. If so, we can assume Mel Gibson is horrifically misogynist nazi-sympathizer. And, if so, everytime Alec Baldwin gets pissed, he shows us he’s a violent racist and homophobe, having both definitely and allegedly referred to photographers as a growing variety of racist and homophobic epithets. His daughter Ireland (you may know her as Thoughtless Little Pig) took to Twitter over the weekend in defense of her father, saying “My dad is far from a homophobe or racist.” But, if those words exist anywhere near his tongue, it would appear that the distance isn’t quite as great as Ireland would want us to believe.

The issue with Baldwin is that people like him, so we keep forgiving him. But, we shouldn’t. 30 Rock is over so I think we can be done here. Yes, photographers suck. It’s terrible that these people have to live their lives in that way, forever stalked. But is anything so terrible that it turns you homophobic? Have you ever been so drunk or high that you blamed the Jews for all the wars or decided you hate black people?

My guess is no. My guess is if that has happened, that’s just who you are, and you fight showing it until your faculties are rendered out of order and you can’t stop yourself. And you probably hate it about yourself, or else you’d say that shit all the time.

But maybe I’m wrong. So, tell me. Do you think it’s possible to spew hatespeak without actually being a hateful person? I’m genuinely curious.