There are certain people who really need to be drop-kicked off the edge of the Earth (*cough* Harvey Weinstein) but then there are some people who, I believe, deserve a second chance.
It’s been revealed or people have been reminded, that Chrissy Teigen (model, social media legend, Donald Trump annoyer) has been an internet troll in the past. Back in 2011, Chrissy sent some frankly disgusting tweets to Courtney Stodden (model, singer and songwriter). One of the tweets simply read ‘go.to.sleep.forever.’ Lovely. Should Chrissy be immediately cancelled for these tweets sent ten years ago to a teenager? Should she be given a second chance?
Suicide is clearly a topic that should not be taken lightly. Ricky Gervais once tweeted, ‘You can joke about whatever the fuck you like. And some people won’t like it and they will tell you they don’t like it. And then it’s up to you whether you give a fuck or not.’ I don’t agree. I’m a firm believer that in life, there needs to be rules and a clear line. If we allowed people to joke about suicide or looked the other way when someone is telling someone else to kill themselves, where the hell would we be? You hear often about youngsters who end their lives off the back of online bullying. The pain they must have felt. The pain their families now have to live with. It’s unimaginable. By not acting, we are helping to perpetuate pain. That’s not a world I want to live in.
Chrissy crossed the line. She has apologised to Courtney and in my opinion, it came across as a heartfelt message. But is it enough? Courtney has said that they continue, to this day, to suffer from the damage that Chrissy has caused. This is where it gets a bit tricky for me. Chrissy has caused that trauma for Courtney and it’s Courtney who will have to live with that trauma or potentially spend a lot of money on therapy to rectify it. It is terribly unfair.
Maybe it’s worth stating that I don’t feel one way or another towards Chrissy. I used to really like her but don’t feel any particular way about her now. I know she’s been through some hard times in the past year and I genuinely hope, as I do for most people, that she is looking after herself and getting the help she needs.
I believe in reform and rehabilitation. We should all be allowed the opportunity to grow and better ourselves. I understand and can see why some would immediately write Chrissy off due to this abhorrent behaviour, but we do not need to take to social media to hound her about it. We need to end the cycle of bullying someone on social media after they themselves have bullied someone on social media. Ultimately, we’d like everyone to be nicer to each other, right? So, we need to lead by example. Sometimes that means giving a bit of leeway to people who have done wrong so that they can learn and grow and hopefully become a kinder person.