The world froze as Paris was hit with its deadliest attack since World War II over the weekend, devastated by terrorist attacks which claimed 129 lives and injured hundreds of others, many critically. As the globe took to social media to band together and show their support of the major city with #PrayForParis, others fell short of their fans’ expectations with either tone-deaf or easily misinterpreted posts.
In the wake of the news, The Bachelor Season 1 winner Anna Heinrich posted an image with from a French-themed engagement and farewell party the night before, wearing berets and holding baguettes. Commenters urged for the reality TV star to “take this down”, expressing that it was “poor taste” and “poor timing”. Anna quickly deleted the post and has not mentioned it since.
Photo: Instagram
Model Imogen Anthony was also subject to scrutiny after she posted an image of herself in front of the Eiffel Tower wearing nothing but lingerie and a layered pearl necklace. “So not appropriate… It’s a very sad day in Paris and you put up a pic in lingerie. Seriously…,” user nickync wrote.
Photo: Instagram
Imogen quickly replaced the image with another which appeared to be from the same shoot but less revealing. “Thinking of Paris today in these sad times… Only experienced this amazing place one, but it was truly magical. I’m so sorry this is happening…,” she wrote. “My experiences with Paris are my own, how dare you slam me for my beliefs and for how I pay my own tributes,” she continued, presumably addressing the haters from the previous post.
When Orange Is the New Black star Ruby Rose urged her rans to “Pray for the entire world” in light of the attacks across multiple countries, the message didn’t go down so well as the Aussie actress was accused of deflecting from the victims of Paris.
Her post read, “Let’s be honest.. Pray for humanity. What is happening in the world.. Today has been devastating. #lebanon #paris #syria and everywhere under attack right now. this is not a blanket post this is a post for today’s horrific news which spans many countries.” One commenter demanded Ruby “Stop erasing what happened”.
Wow! Guys my •pray for the world• post is not taking away from Paris. It’s about the other incidents today #paris #syria #lebanon
— Ruby Rose (@RubyRose) November 14, 2015
This is how she responded: “Wow! Guys my pray for the world post is not taking away from Paris. It’s about the other incidents today #paris #syria #lebanon … There were bombings in Lebanon and Paris today. I am saying the world is in trouble. Terrorism is at large. Please stop comparing my prayer for the world today as an ‘all lives matter’ blanket post. It’s about the terrorist attacks today … Love breeds love. Hate breeds hate.. My heart and my love goes to Paris and everywhere in state of emergency right now. Heartbreaking day.”
Esteemed jewellery designer Samatha Wills was accused of self promotion during the tragedy. “I really like your jewelry but this photo seems to ignore the loss of life in this terrible event. It is not the time for self promotion,” one user commented. “I am not trying to be unkind but what has happened should not be trivialised,” said another.
