Celebrity Social Media Fails

Very rarely does a day go by without a celebrity scandal hitting the headlines. Someone is always doing or saying something that makes us really wonder what was going through their head at the time.

This situation is ever amplified with the addition of social media; especially due to the fact that many of these celebrity faux pas take place using Twitter, Facebook or other popular social networks.

Kanye West

It is not uncommon for people to voice their opinions using social media networks, especially when those opinions are negative. Hip hop icon Kanye West may have crossed the line however when he took to Twitter last year and delved into a rant in order to “clarify” some things about his fashion career. The diatribe contained no less than 80 tweets in the space of only a couple of hours.

I usually never tweet questions butI struggle with this so here goes…Is the word BITCH acceptable?

— Kanye West (@kanyewest) September 2, 2012

To be more specific, is it acceptable for a man to call a woman a bitch even if it’s endearing?

— Kanye West (@kanyewest) September 2, 2012

It is understandable that something may anger you Kanye, but venting to a huge amount of followers in an aggressive manner is never going to be the best idea.

Chris Brown

In early 2012, Chris Brown made his return to the Grammy’s to the dismay of many critics who felt that he should not be allowed to attend after he assaulted his girlfriend, Rihanna only three years beforehand.

The singer received a Grammy for best R&B album and there were many celebrities who publicly showed their disappointment after the singer was honoured with one of the most famous gongs of the night.

The outcry prompted a very angry reply from Chris on his Twitter account where he wrote:

The tweet did not go down well with his fans who thought he could definitely have handled his win with much more grace.

Cher

Cher was outraged when she discovered that Macy’s sold a line by Donald Trump and quickly took to her Twitter account to demonstrate how appalled she was.

She posted many anti-trump posts including:

Along with: “RACIST CRETIN, WHO’D LIE LIKE “HIS RUG”TO GET SOME CHEAP PRESS ! I CANT BELIEVE MACY’S THINKS HE’S THE RIGHT “MAN” 2 REPRESENT THEIR NAME !”

Trump quickly retaliated with a series of aggressive tweets including “I don’t wear a “rug”—it’s mine. And I promise not to talk about your massive plastic surgeries that didn’t work.” Cher did eventually apologise for the hair comment but that was the most Trump was going to get out of her.

Whether she was in the right or not, I don’t think it was necessary to start a feud on a public social network that could easily have been avoided.

Kim Kardashian

Reality star Kim Kardashian took to Twitter after Hamas militants launched a rocket attack at Jerusalem and attempted to show her support by tweeting, “Praying for everyone in Israel”.

She instantly received a huge backlash from many of her followers who tweeted her with messages like, “You are a disgrace to your people and your ancestors” and “People like you are the reason I want to die *Palestine”.

She quickly followed up with another tweet saying “And praying for everyone in Palestine and across the world”, but after being shaken up by backlash Kim then deleted both tweets and put out a statement on her website to try and apologise for the situation.

We understand where you were trying to go with this Kim, but maybe think for a little bit longer next time before you tweet.

Users who lead very high profile lives can get into a lot of trouble just from the messages they release on social platforms such as Twitter. Anything from the timing of a post to the grammar and spelling of it can cause controversy and leave them with a PR disaster.

For someone continuously in the spotlight it is crucial to ensure that brand reputation is considered, and in light of any potential social media disasters, that crisis management has been clearly thought out and is readily prepared for any social media disaster.