Julianne Hough covers the April issue of Allure because, yes, people are still trying to make Julianne Hough happen. I thought that attempt was over more than a year ago, but here we are, with Julianne covering yet another magazine cover for very little reason (I think she’s promoting her judge role on Dancing With the Stars?!). I’m covering this because Julianne actually gave a couple of half-decent quotes about some somewhat interesting subjects, namely her breakup with Ryan Seacrest (I would love it if she really dished about Seacrest, but she does not), Mormonism (she was raised Church of LDS), and most importantly, she admits that she was really, really stupid to wear blackface as part of her Halloween costume in 2013. You can see the Allure slideshow here. Some highlights:
Her short hair is because of Ryan Seacrest: “A little while after, when I cut ties with my relationship. I chopped more. It was about changing it up and beginning fresh—in the movie but in real life, also.”
She’s dating hockey player Brooks Laich, but she still runs into Seacrest: “It’s hard not to—he’s everywhere.”
She begins each day by reciting her “power virtues”: “A power virtue is who you want to be. I say the words, ‘I am’ beforehand… ‘I am determined,’ ‘I am passionate,’ ‘I am grateful,’ and ‘I am love.’”
Mormonism: “I am so grateful that I was raised LDS. I believe in their morals and their standards—and what they give out to the world, the service. I would do a mission, but not for the Mormon church.”
On her blackface Halloween costume: “Ignorance is sometimes not bliss; I really had no idea what I was doing, and it was all out of fun and respect for the character. I don’t even know how to talk about it because it’s such a sensitive topic. It makes me so sad to think that I was that dumb. I learned a big lesson.”
Returning to DWTS: “The fact that I can go back and judge and still pursue other avenues—it’s a win-win for me.”
I have to give her some credit, because she handled the PR crisis of the blackface controversy pretty well. She gave a complete apology immediately and then she actually “went away” and let people forget about it for several months. And even now, a year and a half later, she’s still eating sh-t for it (justifiably) and taking it on the chin. But that’s what we want people to say when they’ve made a mistake, right? “It makes me so sad to think that I was that dumb. I learned a big lesson.” Thank you, Julianne Hough. Thank you for showing the dumb starlets how to manage a crisis with some kind of grace.
Photos courtesy of Carter Smith/Allure and Pacific Coast News.
I find her really pretty, but very forgettable. Like the word fetch in mean girls, stop trying to make fetch happen, Gretchen. Anyway at least she was genuine in her apology and didn’t spew out the typical “I’m sorry if you’re offended” bull crap.
I’m glad she owned up to it. I’m still amazed none of her friends told her “hey maybe that’s not a good idea.”
Interesting that she’s still mentioning Seacrest. Her career hasn’t gone very well, I guess she’s pulling out all the stops to stay in the spotlight?
Agreed. Her friends let her out of the house and be photographed like that. And apparently once they got to the party other guests were horrified and someone marched her into the bathroom. I have this image in my head of a record player scratching to a stop when she walks in.
Either her friends are the kind of white people that say stuff like “OMG it’s just a joke!! Stop being so sensitive.” Or they knew she’d get in trouble and they let her do it just to watch her take the fall. Either way, she needs to be careful because these are not good friends and she should’ve known regardless. Also, it makes me wonder if she washed her face because a black person confronted her inside that party. I’m afraid she really offended someone and that’s when it hit her what an idiotic thing she did.
By the way, I don’t think she handled it well. Her apology was dumb because she said it was a tribute to the actress who plays Crazy Eyes. Like, what?
Supposedly it was Isla Fisher who took her aside. And I agree – this is such a bad sign about the friends!
They probably asked about Seaccrest, in all fairness. Besides dwts, it’s the only notable thing about her I remember.
I never got her popularity. She’s meh. It was a stupid thing to do. I think her apology is sincere.
greeeaattt I Summoned her by speaking her name earlier.. Im sorry yall
Not sure if it is black face or Oompa Loompa face. She looks like tan mom. Either way, she just looks silly and clueless. But at least she got her head handed to it for her ignorance and hopefully learned from it. Not even sure who she is or why she is famous, but that seems to be the way it is with most “celebrities ” these day.
“I don’t even know how to talk about it because it’s such a sensitive topic. It makes me so sad to think that I was that dumb. I learned a big lesson.”
No sh*t Sherlock! NEXT!
What she should have learnt from that episode is that she doesn’t have a single friend who would have pointed out how egregious the costume was BEFORE she went out.
As far as apologies go, that’s a pretty good one.
I agree. “Ignorance is sometimes not bliss; I really had no idea what I was doing.” — that’s about the best you can hope for in a situation like this. Sounds like she really had no clue and really did learn her lesson.
She knew exactly what she was doing when she wore blackface. It was a publicity stunt. She has gotten more press from doing that, than anything else in her career. She can says whatever she wants now, but it is an offensive publicity stunt.
Shouldn’t the headline just read “Julianne Hough admits she was dumb”….I think that would cover everything!
She has a lifestyle website now. RME.
I give her credit for owning it and apologizing but honestly how could she be so stupid to not know what she was doing? It isn’t like black face is some new thing.
I can tell you, I honestly did not know about the black face thing until I was in college and I took a course called “Class, Race and Gender” my senior year. There are a lot of racial and ethnic sterotypes I never got exposed to when I was younger, thankfully being surrounded mostly by people who were not racist creeps, and those discussions were never had in my school or my home. It’s because I have white privilege and never had to confront those issues, and until I sought out an education on it, I never knew they existed. It’s absolutely possible it just never occurred to her, or she didn’t understand the magnitude of its offensiveness.
And I’m not giving her a pass, btw, I’m glad she apologized (seemingly sincerely) and owned it. She messed up, for sure, I just don’t think it’s fair to assume we all have the same exposure to these things.
I learned about it from celebitchy.
I’d change friends if I was her. Not only are they racist and/or ignorant too, but they let her leave the house like that, just waiting to see her take the fall and eat sh*t for it. They sabotaged her. She should have known regardless! But good friends step in when you’re making a bad choice.
Remember people, a real friend is not going to let you make an ass out of yourself. A real friend will be honest if your outfit looks stupid, or if you’re about to do something horrible. A real friend will not let you leave the house looking like a mess, KNOWING you will do something stupid, or be made fun of or offend people.
That was nice of her. You can tell she really learned.
I too was raised Mormon, but unlike Julianne I am NOT grateful about it. Mormonism is a cult that brainwashes women to be submissive to men and makes them think their only purpose in life is to be a wife and mother. Very patriarchial and harmful; women are totally second class. The Mormon church’s so-called “morals and standards” consist of telling people they can’t have sex before marriage, and if they do, it’s a sin second only to MURDER. Also, don’t drink coffee or alcohol or you’ll go to hell. Oh and the “service” it does around the world is only to get more members who will pay tithing to them, 10% of their income, so they can remain the billion dollar corporation they are. They also make people think they have to be “perfect,” and are VERY shaming when they fall short, which they will always do because who can be perfect? People who are Mormon may appear to be happy, but inside they are miserable. Why do you think Utah leads the nation in anti-depressant use? Oh and don’t even get me started on their awful treatment of gay people, and how they contributed millions of dollars to Prop 8 in CA. Julianne is an idiot to speak so highly of a toxic, brainwashing cult.
I’m an ex LDS convert and although I’ve met some lovely people through the church it really does operate like a cult. I remember coming across some elder’s quorum manuals that outlines how to gain new members by targeting the vulnerable. Example, someone recently divorced or a family who’s had a death in the family. Then there’s the constant push to pay ‘an honest tithe’ to pay your fast offering. Even if you’re down to your last dollar you should give, give, give then just pray and exercise your faith by waiting for God to drop a blessing in your lap. I could go on and on about the negative aspects of that church but I won’t. Suffice it to say I hear you and I agree 100 percent.