Top 10 Controversial Tweets of 2020 (So Far)
#10: Terry Crews
Known for bringing the laughs on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” Terry Crews got serious in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Following this tragedy, a heartbroken Crews shared an effective Instagram video, but people were less thrilled about his later tweets. With protests growing, Crews wrote that Black supremacy is created if white people aren’t involved in the defeat of white supremacy. He continued: “Equality is the truth. Like it or not, we are all in this together.” While Crews aimed to unite people during divisive times, critics thought his word choice and approach could’ve used more thought. Crews followed up, tweeting, “Please know that everything I’ve said comes from a spirit of love and reconciliation, for the Black community first, then the world as a whole, in hopes to see a better future for Black people.”
#9: Stephen King
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The 92nd Academy Awards nominations fuelled an ongoing debate about the lack of diversity. Author Stephen King, himself an Academy voter, gave his two cents on Twitter, writing, “I would never consider diversity in matters of art. Only quality. It seems to me that to do otherwise would be wrong.” The tweet didn’t go over so well, as many critics felt that Greta Gerwig should’ve been nominated for Best Director and Awkwafina should’ve been up for Best Actress - not purely for diversity’s sake, but because they deserved it. King later acknowledged that he stepped over a line, claiming in a Washington Post article, “The Oscars are still rigged in favor of white people.” If “Parasite” proved anything when it won Best Picture, it’s that you can have “quality” and “diversity.”
#8: Dee Nguyen
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Dee Nguyen was emerging as a rising reality TV star on MTV’s “The Challenge,” but her relationship with the network quickly ended following some insensitive posts. In the aftermath of George’s Floyd’s death, Nguyen tweeted that she had supported the Black Lives Matter movement “since the day [she] lost [her] virginity.” This tweet was seen as incredibly inappropriate and Nguyen didn’t help her case with an Instagram comment that was seen as equally tone-deaf. The posts were deleted and Nguyen issued an apology, but the damage was already done: MTV and Bunim/Murray Productions subsequently announced that they’d be cutting ties with Nguyen over her “offensive comments.”
#7: Hartley Sawyer
It’s always disappointing when the person behind the mask isn’t as heroic as we had hoped. Making his debut as Ralph Dibny on Season 4 of “The Flash,” Hartley Sawyer was upgraded to a series regular for Seasons 5 and 6. Before Sawyer got his big break, however, he made a series of sexist, racist, and all-around tasteless comments on Twitter. Some of these shocking tweets may have been Sawyer's idea of a joke, but nobody was laughing when they resurfaced in 2020, least of all his co-stars and bosses. Unfortunately for Sawyer, Barry Allen can’t travel back in time and delete his Twitter account. The Elongated Man actor was promptly fired for his statements, leaving the Arrowverse in a state of disarray.
#6: Megyn Kelly
Throughout 2020, numerous media companies have reevaluated past content that could be construed as problematic today. “Gone with the Wind” was temporarily removed from HBO Max, but returned with an informative disclaimer. Whereas some saw this as understandable, journalist Megyn Kelly didn’t: in a series of tweets, Kelly started off asking, “Are we going to pull all of the movies in which women are treated as sex objects too?” She proceeded to sarcastically suggest that HBO remove “Friends” and “Game of Thrones,” as well as John Hughes and Woody Allen movies. She took things further with a take on police shows after news that Paramount Network was dropping “Cops” from its schedule. Many felt that Kelly missed the point and blew things out of proportion. Her comments seemed to enforce the misleading notion that beloved media will disappear completely if we even acknowledge past mistakes.
#5: Ice Cube
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As of late, a lot of people have shared conspiracy theories online with little to no evidence backing them up. Rapper Ice Cube is among the most high-profile individuals who’s been spreading misinformation. What’s worse, the conspiracy theories that he’s promoted seem to carry anti-Semitic overtones. In one tweet, the “Black Cube of Saturn” was plastered over the Star of David. Previously, this cube has been used to encourage the unfounded theory that Jewish individuals have been responsible for global incidents of terror. This is just one of several comments that have ignited accusations of antisemitism directed at Ice Cube. In another tweet, Ice Cube implied that he was “just pro-Black,” but not “anti anybody,” which did little to drown out “the hype,” as he called it.
#4: Elon Musk
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Elon Musk is an innovative entrepreneur, but that doesn’t mean everything that comes out of his mouth - or Twitter account - is of a well-educated nature. He’s posted his fair share of questionable tweets in 2020, claiming that his own company’s stock price was “too high” and confusingly stating that “Pronouns suck.” The tweet that aroused the most outrage, however, was posted on March 6, 2020, five days before the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic. Disregarding the clear warning signs, Musk nonchalantly tweeted, “The coronavirus panic is dumb.” Musk only dug himself deeper from there, wrongfully theorizing there would be “close to zero new cases in US too by end of April.” People found Musk’s “FREE AMERICA NOW” comment during lockdown to be especially irresponsible.
#3: J. K. Rowling
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For a generation that’s grown up adoring “Harry Potter,” author J. K. Rowling has sucked out some of the magic with her recent activity on Twitter. Rowling already stirred up controversy in December 2019 when she supported Maya Forstater, who was fired over tweets construed as transphobic. In June 2020, Rowling took issue with an article that used the phrase “people who menstruate,” with Rowling saying the less-inclusive word “women” should be used instead. GLAAD saw Rowling’s comments as “anti-trans” and they weren’t alone. Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and several other Wizarding World actors took issue with Rowling’s words, as have countless fans and colleagues. Responding to the backlash with an essay, Rowling has stood by her comments.
#2: Donald Trump
Yeah, you all knew this was coming. President Donald Trump’s Twitter remains an endless source of controversy; his suggestion to delay the November presidential election is just the tip of the iceberg. Trump infamously shared a video thanking “the great people of The Villages,” even though one of them was chanting a hate slogan. In a few cases, Twitter has even taken direct action against the president, fact-checking one ill-informed tweet about mail-in ballots and adding a link to the post in question. Another Tweet got flagged for violating the service’s policies about “glorifying violence.” Trump got flagged once again for threatening “serious force” if an autonomous zone were to pop up in Washington, D.C. We could go on, but it’s hard to sum up every 2020 Trump tweet in 280 characters or less.
#1: Kanye West
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While it was tempting to go with America’s current commander-in-chief, we had to give our top spot to the man who wants to be the country’s 46th president. We can’t believe we’re reporting this, but Kanye West officially announced via Twitter that he was running for president in 2020. People weren’t sure whether to find this declaration hilarious or horrifying, but West’s later statement about Harriet Tubman rubbed everyone the wrong way. Matters got even more bizarre when West posted a tirade of late-night tweets, claiming that he was the inspiration for the movie “Get Out.” In all seriousness, it’s been reported that West has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and that has prompted Kim Kardashian to request “compassion and empathy” for her family during this time.
