Social media can be a celebrity’s best friend… or worst enemy. In 2016, plenty of stars had social media mess ups, but here are seven that made headlines:
1. Debra Messing
Debra Messing messed up when she posted a selfie during the UCLA shooting. The actress tweeted the pic along with a caption that read, “HORRENDOUS Watching news about shooting at UCLA with casualties while taking selfie to bring awareness to gun violence.” After being criticized by many, the “Will and Grace” star issued an apology.
2. Madonna
In the wake of the Orlando massacre, Madonna tried to show her support but her effort left some fans feeling offended. The pop superstar posted a meme of herself kissing Britney Spears which read, “Gay or Straight- no hate.” Some felt the message was inappropriate in the wake of the tragedy.
3. Mischa Barton
Mischa Barton posted a heartfelt message calling for no more violence however her choice of pic caused chaos. The actress decried the death of Alton Sterling in a lengthy Instagram message then published a pic of her in a bikini on yacht with her eye closed. The social media universe unleashed their wrath, slamming the actress for posting the bikini pic alongside the message. Barton did what any star would do in that situation: She pressed delete.
4. Cher
Cher upset her followers when she posted a tweet with a bomb emoji during the airport attack in Turkey in June. "We all pray for innocent ppl in turkey airport" she wrote with a bomb emoji and an explosion icon. The use of the emojis caused a stir and she apologized for the insensitive tweet.
5. Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt took some serious heat for his ill-received tweet about President-elect Trump. In November, the comedian responded to a Twitter user who wrote, “Trump has properties all over the world. Terrorists will have a long list of targets that are literally owned by POTUS and bear his name.” Oswalt replied by retweeting the tweet and adding, "Holy f--k. Come 'n' get it, terrorists!" Many Twitter users felt his post was outrageous and Oswalt sort of apologized with a follow-up tweet.
6. Blake Shelton
Blake Shelton’s social media past haunted him when old Twitter posts resurfaced. The country star had a wrote a series of messages in 2012 that many deemed racist and sexist. He wrote in 2011, "learn some English so I would at least know what he's planning to bomb!!" In another tweet from 2010, he writes about a "sick fantasy" he had about the then 16-year-old Dakota Fanning. People were incredibly peeved and shortly thereafter Shelton apologized.
“Everyone knows comedy has been a major part of my career and it’s always been out there for anyone to see. That said anyone that knows me also knows I have no tolerance of hate of any kind or form. Can my humor at times be inappropriate and immature? Yes. Hateful? Never,” Shelton continues. “That said I deeply apologize to anybody who may have been offended.”
7. Al Trautwig
Al Trautwig, NBC’s gymnastics announcer at the Rio Games, got into hot water when he spoke about gymnast Simone Biles’ parents. Trautwig said on-air that the gold medalist was “raised by her grandfather and his wife and she calls them mom and dad," and the Twitterverse reprimanded him with users telling him to simply refer to the couple as Biles’ parents. The commentator replied on the social media app saying, “They may be mom and dad but they are NOT her parents.” People were not happy with his reply so he did what any star would and apologized. “I regret that I wasn’t more clear in my wording on the air,” he said in a statement. “I compounded the error on Twitter, which I quickly corrected. To set the record straight, Ron and Nellie are Simone’s parents.”