Emma Watson Blasted for 'Inadequate' Response to Protests
by EG
In an illustration of how even good intentions can fall on deaf ears, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone star Emma Watson was blasted this week for not posting the correct version of a black square on Instagram. The British Watson was critcized by some commenters for not commenting quickly enough about the racial unrest that's raging in the United States, and for doing so ineffectively when she did finally speak up. Was there any way that Stone could have done it right? Read on and decide for yourself.
Via Page Six.
Emma Watson has landed in hot water among activists for her participation in #BlackoutTuesday.
The social media initiative, aimed at muting self-promotional and commercial content in favor of amplifying black voices, involves supporters of Black Lives Matter posting a black square on their Instagram account, followed by information concerning police brutality, community updates, and the like.
The “Little Women” actress, 30, opted to post three black squares, each with hashtags — Blackout Tuesday, The Show Must Be Paused, Amplify Melanated Voices, and Amplify Black voices — attached.
But Watson was soon accused of performative activism, with users pointing out that the black squares she posted were edited to match the aesthetic of her Instagram account. Others noted that the “Harry Potter” star hadn’t said a word about the death of George Floyd or racial tensions in general until #BlackoutTuesday.
“The way emma watson touts herself as an activist and has said nothing but three blank squares on instagram tells you how much of a white feminist she is,” wrote one critic, while another added, “did emma watson rly put a damn border on her blackout tuesday post so it would fit her aesthetic… f–k that… and f–k the fact that this is the only time she’s spoken up and it literally contributes NOTHING… miss me with that white feminist bs.”
Watson has since addressed the controversy, choosing to wait until midnight in the UK to follow up the posts with a note of support.
Get the rest of the story at Page Six.
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