Zooey Deschanel Versus The Los Angeles Times

Actress Zooey Deschanel was likely not giggling when she posted to her website Hello Giggles to defend herself from an article in The Los Angeles Times that called her a "cow".

In the Times piece writer Patt Morrison took the (500) Days of Summer actress to task for her comments from a recent BAFTA event being attended by British royals Will and Kate. The quote in question revolved around the suitability of Downtown L.A. for hosting the royal couple.

 “I just don’t want them to see the worst of L.A.,” Morrison quoted Deschanel as saying. This lead into a long scree on the pampered life of celebrities such as Deschanel and extolled the virtues of both the British royalty and the real-ness of Downtown L.A.. Not before, however, she referred to Deschanel as a "snobby cow".

Only one problem: Morrison neither attended the event nor heard the offending quote directly from Deschanel's pretty lips. Instead she read the quote on Entertainment Weekly, which has already apologized for misquoting both Deschanel and Jonah Hill at the gala. Maybe some more reporting should have gone into this reporter's article?

Among the varied claims Morrison makes about the character of folksy She & Him singer is this gem: "What, Ms. Deschanel, you don’t have any homeless people there near your Westside home?” It would be hard for Deschanel to answer that, as she points out on her website, because she doesn't even live in Westside.

It seems the future star of the fall sitcom "The New Girl" became the unfortunate victim of misrepresentation and a slow news day. The vitriol Morrison unleashed in her piece was remarkably unequal to the crime, even if Deschanel's quote hadn't been taken out of the jokey context to which it was meant.

"I have pride in my city, that’s the reason why I thought it was kind of funny that they didn’t clean up the immediate surroundings before the Royals came through,” she explains on Hello Giggles.

“It’s hard for me to comprehend why you launched such a vile and toxic blow in my direction over a sentence fragment that you did not even hear for yourself,” Deschanel goes on to say in her open letter, staying classy despite the provocation.

Maybe in the future journalists should steer clear of publishing rants without doing research. Or perhaps they should beware adorably whimsical fan-favorite actresses with their own girly comedy sites from which to defend themselves. In either case I say bravo to Zooey for standing up for herself and keeping it classy. What do you think?

Read Zoeey Dschanel's open letter here.