Queen of social media, Chrissy Teigen, took some time out from defending her own parenting skills to take aim at Mom-shamers attacking Hills alum Kristin Cavallari. After Kristin posted a picture of her adorable sons at the beach with husband Jay Cutler, she was accused of starving her kids. Well, Mrs. John Legend added her two cents to the discussion.
Chrissy took to Twitter, replying to E! News for a story they did calling out these awful people. The article is definitely worth a read (it’s so good, I wish I wrote it), but here is the gist of it:
Sadly, the shaming epidemic continues, having spread from the already inappropriate arena of body image and weight into the sacred confines of parenting and people’s children. All inexcusable—though at the very least it’s given nontoxic people more chances to say nice things. (Because, in case we hadn’t noticed, it’s also a lot easier to stand up and say nice things when we’re responding to someone who has said something heinous or otherwise unfair.)
Celebrities and other public figures are usually the ones on the receiving end of most of the unsolicited advice—if not downright vitriol—that people have apparently been storing up for years in the hopes that someone would come up with an easy, convenient way to communicate every thought they’ve ever had to the entire world in mere seconds.
Stars are used to that, and most have come to begrudging terms with the pitfalls of celebrity. Namely, strangers paying attention to everything you do. And when celebs choose to open up or otherwise share snippets of their personal lives on social media, in comes the commentary. Many factors are at play: The know-it-all factor. The jealousy factor. The indignant “what-do-you-know?” factor.
But while a new brand of criticism—let’s call it success-shaming—has arisen in response to cookbooks, blogs, apps and other means by which stars let it be known that they’re not just like us, most will admit to not having all the answers, if any at all. They only know what works for them and often are happy for tips from those with more experience.
With all of the grief Chrissy has had to endure with Mom-shamers attacking her, I’m sure the article hit close to home. Responding to the article, Chrissy tweeted:
@enews I will never know why parents criticize others so harshly, knowing they’d go insane if they were on the receiving end ALLTHETIME.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) July 12, 2016
She followed that up and then showed some love to Kristin.
@enews anyway, love you @KristinCav and screw everyone’s bored ass!
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) July 12, 2016
Kristin, who has spent a lot of time blocking her critics lately, seemed appreciative of Chrissy’s support:
@chrissyteigen lol thx girl love u and ur little girl is adorable 😘
— Kristin Cavallari (@KristinCav) July 12, 2016
Wouldn’t it be nice if these people could put a lid on it? It’s really a shame, as I can only imagine that being a mom is a tough gig, and having to constantly defend one’s parenting choices can’t make it any easier. In other, lighter, Chrissy news, the model has jumped on the Pokémon Go bandwagon, playing while on vacation in Italy. Chrissy tweeted that she was playing – and joking about the “mean” sign-up process – as well as posting a pic of one of her captures (if that’s what you call them, I am too old for this stuff).
Michael watch outttt pic.twitter.com/OWLRoESsiA
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) July 10, 2016
As with most pop culture trends, the novelty of the app could have already worn off.
I’m over Pokemon. Please let’s pretend I never played and I never bought hundreds of pounds of incense
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) July 12, 2016
Oh, and I’m not a big fan of kids, but Chrissy posted the cutest picture of Luna in a mermaid suit. For me to acknowledge this is kind of a big deal, so brava, Mama!
Didn't think @chrissyteigen's snapchats could get any better but then SHE DRESSED BABY LUNA AS A MERMAID pic.twitter.com/mRUUcpsGxt
— Cara (@_CaraH) July 7, 2016
Photo credit: WENN.com, Fame Flynet, Snapchat/Chrissy Teigen, Instagram/John Legend
The only thing I would call Cavallari or any parent out on is the fact that she’s vocally very anti-vaccine and her kids aren’t vaccinated. That’s a health hazard.
This? This just feels like two kids with a fast metabolism. When my brother was that age he ate like a horse and still stayed looked that her kids do.
When my boys were that age they were skinny like Kristin’s sons and they ate like horses! Most little boys run around all day long!
Agreed on both points. Please vaccinate your kids – our neighbor is on a delayed schedule and we’ve had the talk very informed and peacefully since our kids play together. No vaccinations…I can’t be your friend and my kid can’t be around your kid. PERIOD.
Also, my kiddo is 3 weeks shy of 5. I hear all the time that she look 7-8 years old. She’s almost 4 ft tall and weighs 45 lbs of rock solid muscle. She looks thin but is just tall and very muscular. So I feel her on the judgement of her kids. I’d be pissed. Kids do need good fats in their diets and lots of them because their brains are developing. They need it to grow. These are her children and her choices as a parent. Not stepping on those.
I had to look back at what people were ripping on Kristin about.
Honestly? They look like two pretty healthy little boys who have gone through some growth spurts. They’re kids – they’re active, they’re growing. Some kids are just skinny kids, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
I’m half terrified to have kids in this world haha. It’s so cutthroat with the sanctimommy brigade – I don’t know how people handle it. God – when our dog was in that lanky puppy stage (she’s a pointer – I have never seen a fat pointer) she went through a phase where she could just eat but burned so many calories and shot up in height. I felt so bad – I can’t imagine having a child and people assume I’m not taking proper care of it when I am.
I will however, always give her the side-eye for not vaccinating because that’s not just affecting your children – you’re putting others at risk as well. But I’m also not about to jump on instagram and attack her over it, either.
When my my boys were in elementary school they were so tiny ( in comparison to my daughter’s too ) that their pediatrician would ask me if I was feeding them. I had to explain to the Pediatrician several times that they ate and still eat more than anyone in the house. It was an embarrassing situation that couldn’t be avoided during our appointments. Now that my kids are almost grown, my boys are athletically built … where as my girls struggle to keep their weight in check. I think it’s a combination of genes and nature personally.
The no-vaxxer parents will regret that in later life and they will believe that they failed their kids. Just wait. Some illnesses which children usually get are much worse when you get them as an adult. And what these illnesses can do to somebody who hasn’t been vaxxed and is pregnant … oh dear. That will affect the grandchildren.
Luckily there are vaccinations against those diseases which work on adults, too, so let’t hope the children of anti-vaxxers get the chance to get vaxxed when they are adults.
Just look up on wikipedia:
rubella
mumps
chickenpox
Kristin’s kids look healthy to me. Internet trolls are always on the look out for something to “champion”. People need to take a deep breath and back away from the keyboard. That means you, Chrissy!!
Calling everything “shaming” takes all meaning away from the word
Publicly humilitating somebody is exactly what shaming is. Just saying. And if it happens for ridiculously unimportant things it is only fair to throw back some shame onto the shamers.
Basically you just need the wrong haircolour nowadays to receive some shame on the internet.
I mean, you make motherhood into a business. And then you wonder why people jump down your throat. The fact that they do make it a business is – imo – not that much better than these idiot internet trolls who apparently don’t have lives of their own. Nobody looks good here and I say this as someone who actually doesn’t mind Chrissy as a person. There’s no reason to attack parents for anything but these kiddie enterprises gross me out as well.
On the Anniston thread, someone posted “Right message, wrong messenger”. It applies here, too.
You don’t like the way the Internet game is played, then don’t play. Decide whether or not the money you make from it is worth it.
Fixed it for ya, momtrepreneurs. Where’s the That Was Easy button?
Just wait for it, someone’s going to make the “But it’s her choice, she shouldn’t have to pay for it in hate comments.” argument.
I agree. These people have money, fame and fun. Why waste time on twitter? Hell I’m nowhere near as rich as she is and I don’t even use it. Why? Because real life is more interesting.
Baby Luna is adorable. And really unless you are in a child’s life and see a real problem don’t comment because like others have said what if it’s growth spurts or genetics etc. I mean if you don’t know the kid you can’t know anything about their situation.
This isn’t like being a teacher, family, neighbor, or friend who knows the child and family and can see a situation and should intervene. Your looking at one random internet photo which says nothing.
Celebrites like Chrissy and Kristin are not “[choosing] to open up or otherwise share snippets of their personal lives on social media” when they post pictures of their children on social media. They are choosing to use their personal lives and children to promote their lifestyle brand, clothing line, cookbook, etc.
I feel bad for celebrity kids. It is more important to their parents to use them for self promotion or to promote whatever side gig they have than it is to protect them from mean people in the world/internet.
Maybe stars should limit who can see their instagrams to friends and family, so mean strangers can’t make comments on their kids. But I get it. Social media is the modern way to advertise. If a star limits access to his/her instagram to protect his/her kid, he/she might lose a sale of a cookbook or a pair of shoes.
Since their parents’ marketing campaigns hinge on photos of them and their personal lives, I guess the best these celebrity kids can hope for is the outrage their celebrity parents unleash at the mean strangers making comments on the internet.
Maybe the celebrity kids could hope for a good lawyer too, so they could at least get a commission on sales of their parents’ cookbooks and shoes from the days their photos appear on Mommy’s instagram.
I’m not saying you don’t have a point except, how is Kristin posting a pic of her kid different then your coworker doing it? It’s not it’s still a kid on the Internet (I’m against this but do you people) and really we as a society shouldn’t be so quick to attack the parenting skills of people based on a picture without knowing them.
Now personally I think Chrissy’s argument would have been a bit stronger if she focused on how it is wrong to parent shame because you see a picture and not add in the poor celebrity thing but she isn’t wrong that this constant attacking of the mom brigade is out of control.
My coworkers and friends don’t make money off of it. They’re just proud of their kids or want to share it with family who’s far away.
My coworker might use privacy settings when she posts pictures on social media, blocking strangers from seeing them. A lot of people use privacy settings for facebook, twitter, etc. Celebrities could make their accounts private too, so strangers could not see them and make mean comments.
The fact that they don’t makes me think they value the exposure social media brings them and the products they are selling more than the privacy of their kids.
I think the point is that Kristin is promoting a mommy brand and her followers are thousands (millions?) of strangers, whereas a non celebrity is pretty much just sharing it for their friends and family to see, because no one else really cares.
I agree with t that it’s a fine line to walk, if you use your family to sell yourself, your brand, and make that your career, as I think Kristin has done, you’ve opened the door to making your private life public.
That said, the negative comments and mommywar crap is out of hand, and people are way too quick to judge.
Celebrities know how social media works. If they can’t take the good with the bad they should stay off it.
Cavallari’s issues have nothing to do with Tiegen – she’s just trying to get PR points.
100% agree.
We have freedom of speech and social media is a free for all. You can’t expect kindness from strangers online, especially bored strangers. Best just not to engage at all.
Pokémon Go is super fun. That’s all I got.
…”. And when celebs choose to open up or otherwise share snippets of their personal lives on social media, in comes the commentary.”…
Who would have thought so?! I guess that many celebrities will be seriously offended if ” the masses” never care for their snippets.
I myself don’t always appreciate to be at the receiving end of celebrity unsolicited wisdom, but there you are.
I really wanted to like Chrissy, but I just can’t.
…my response to chrissie…” it takes a village…” lol…
How many Twitter feuds does Chrissy get into in a week? I just saw that she’s fighting with Piers Morgan now. Granted, he’s insufferable, but… Does she do anything else these days, aside from fight on Twitter?
This could all be solved if people just LOGGED off.
Look, we know what people are like. They judge, they bully, they nitpick. It starts in school and it never ends. Just don’t use social media or only use it with those you trust and are close with. It eliminates this whole issue. Live your life and don’t even bother looking at what people are saying. It’s irrelevant.