Actor Interviews That Aged Poorly

Actress Vanessa Hudgens felt the full fury of social media when a seemingly offhand comment made on her Instagram page generated widespread negative responses from viewers. The former «High School Musical» star went live in 2020 with comments that apparently addressed the coronavirus and news that it would remain active into the summer of that year. In her post (via YouTube/Entertainment Tonight), Hudgens said, «Even if everybody gets it — like, yeah, people are going to die. But, like, inevitable?» Hudgens appeared to realize that her comments were going to earn blowback, and quickly added, «Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this right now.»

Her prediction proved correct. The backlash she experienced, some of which came from her 38 million followers, prompted Hudgens to post a new Instagram story to appease rising tempers. «Yesterday I did an Instagram Live and I realized today that some of my comments are being taken out of context,» she said. «Yeah, I don’t take this situation lightly by any means. I am home. So stay inside, y’all.»

Apparently, the post wasn’t enough of an apology, as she addressed the original Instagram post on her X account. There, she called her comments insensitive, and said that the response from fans had been a «huge wake-up call.»