Earlier this week, when conversation about Vanity Fair’s cover photo of Caitlyn Jenner utterly dominated Twitter, former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell managed to trend right behind Jenner most of the day, because of this (since deleted) tweet:
.@DrakeBell Has Made Transphobic Comments On Twitter And People Are Not Happy http://t.co/4wNErjrztJ pic.twitter.com/8vhbfxf4fq
— BuzzFeed Community (@BuzzFeeders) June 1, 2015
Bell tried to explain that he just wanted to remember the legacy of the greatest athlete of all time, but legions of social justice warriors had already branded Bell “transphobic,” with a handful instructing him to “hang yourself,” “die,” and “burn in hell.”
Calls for followers to “chill out” didn’t help, and today Bell issued an apology for his remarks.
https://twitter.com/DrakeBell/status/606538333607600128
https://twitter.com/DrakeBell/status/606538628681109505
Remarkably, Bell’s apology went over well with most.
https://twitter.com/NadiaMalik96/status/606539208119836672
https://twitter.com/jeezbrah/status/606540514238697472
https://twitter.com/McIrish2012/status/606541117195055104
@DrakeBell All you did was speak your opinion, it only matters to everyone because your famous. You can speak your opinion just like anyone.
— ? (@Rachelas18) June 4, 2015
https://twitter.com/Ryandomvideos/status/606538868947591168
https://twitter.com/Proud_Sclubber/status/606539130328252416
@DrakeBell it's ok. You are entitled to your own beliefs as much as they are to theirs. Don't sweat it
— Chanel Stelmachowicz (@chanel_leigh) June 4, 2015
https://twitter.com/mentalcookies/status/606540094397247488
@DrakeBell oh goodness. It's come to this now where you are apologizing just because people misconstrued your comment. 🙁
— Casey Smith (@zappa2001) June 4, 2015
https://twitter.com/rachelquiroga/status/606545205907447809
Don’t be drama llamas.
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