It's no secret that 2020 hasn't been easy. From a global pandemic to racial injustices
to record unemployment rates and everything else,
it's been very challenging, to say the least. Regular folk aside,
celebs have also been impacted by 2020, with some of them having a particularly awful year.
In 2020, Demi Lovato went from single to engaged to single again in a matter of six months,
so it's safe to say that the year has been a bumpy road for the pop star.
Lovato and her now ex-fiancé Max Ehrich started dating back in March, were engaged by July,
and broke up in September. And while the two were very public about their love on
social media while they were together, Ehrich also took that energy into their breakup.
There were definitely some red flags during their relationship,
like Ehrich's old tweets about Selena Gomez going viral, but things got super messy when
Lovato and Ehrich split. He decided to air their dirty laundry on social media,
going on multiple rants on his Instagram stories. Ehrich got into everything from saying he found
out about their breakup from the tabloids to randomly sharing Lovato's old music. Ultimately,
Lovato wasn't thrilled by the way her ex handled their breakup. According to a source via E!,
"Demi wants no contact with Max at this point.
She is completely embarrassed at the way he's been acting and putting their
relationship on blast via social media [...] She wants nothing to do with him."
By October 2020, things had escalated further, with a source telling E!,
"[Max] has been trying to get in contact with her family and friends and they
have all blocked him [...] [Demi]'s in contact with lawyers now on what to do."
2020 started off rough for Vanessa Hudgens when she and her longtime boyfriend, Austin Butler,
broke up. The two were together for almost nine years before they split,
but things only got worse for Hudgens when the pandemic hit.
Back in March, Hudgens went live on Instagram at the beginning of
the lockdowns. During her livestream, she responded to the announcement that
the pandemic could possibly stretch into the summer. At the time, Hudgens said,
"Even if everybody gets it, like yeah, people are going to die,
which is terrible [...] but like, inevitable?"
The backlash was immediate, and she eventually issued multiple
apologies. Vanessa first went back on Instagram and said,
"I did an Instagram live, and I realized today that some of my comments are being
taken out of context. It's a crazy time, and I am at home in lockdown."
But the excuse that her comments were being taken out of context
still didn't sit well with fans. Hudgens ultimately issued a formal apology on
Twitter saying this situation was a huge wake-up call for her. The actress said,
"I'm so sorry for the way I have offended anyone and everyone who
has seen the clip from my Instagram live. I realize my words were insensitive and
not at all appropriate for the situation our country and world are in right now."
"I hope you guys are all staying safe, and staying inside."
Up until this year, for the most part, Ellen DeGeneres was known for being one of the funniest
and most generous celebs. Her famous catchphrase is "be kind to one another," after all. But,
in 2020, accusations by fans, employees, and former guests led to months of bad press for
DeGeneres. 2020 started to go downhill for her when a comedian tweeted asking for,,
quote, "stories you've heard about Ellen being mean," and he quickly received around
three thousand responses. Fans wrote about everything from times DeGeneres was rude
to wait staff to not being allowed to make eye contact with her on set.
Not long after this post went viral, BuzzFeed published a major exposé with stories from former
and current employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The article claimed the show was a toxic
work environment. The insiders detailed their alleged experiences with racial discrimination,
punishment for taking medical leave, and not being
allowed to speak to DeGeneres if they saw her around the office.
But it wasn't only fans and former co-workers that spoke out against DeGeneres. While some
celebs had DeGeneres' back, others like YouTuber NikkieTutorials, shared their negative experiences
with the talk show host. According to The Hollywood Reporter, DeGeneres has since let go
of three of her top executive producers that were accused of cultivating the toxic work environment
and she has issued multiple apologies, including one during the season premiere of her show.
Amid the 2020 demands for racial equality across the country,
many celebs, like Lea Michele, were called out for past racial discrimination.
Michele's former Glee co-star, Samantha Marie Ware, responded to Michele's
tweet about George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement in June of 2020. Ware wrote,
"remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! Cause I'll never forget.
I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would 's--- in my
wig!' amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood."
After Ware's post went viral, companies like Hello Fresh announced that they would end
their partnerships with Michele, and other former co-stars shared their negative experiences too.
Meanwhile, this was all unfolding just as Michele announced that she was pregnant
with her first child in the midst of a global pandemic. Michele ended up posting a lengthy
apology on Instagram and deleted her Twitter page entirely. In her post, she explained,
"I am a couple of months from becoming a mother and I know I need to keep working
to better myself and take responsibility for my actions, so that I can be a real role model for
my child [...] I listened to these criticisms and I am learning and while I am very sorry,
I will be better in the future from this experience."
In June 2020, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling retweeted an op-ed
piece that discussed "people who menstruate," seeming to have an
issue with the story not just using the word women instead. She wrote,
"'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people.
Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
While this tweet received a lot of backlash, Rowling did not stop there.
She doubled down on her views in a series of tweets and wrote,
"I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them.
I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans.
At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so."
Since these tweets went viral, many of Rowling's former fans and colleagues like Daniel Radcliffe,
Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Eddie Redmayne have spoken out against her
remarks. In response to Rowling's tweets, Watson tweeted saying,
"Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives
without being constantly questioned or told they aren't who they say they are.
I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you,
respect you and love you for who you are."
In May 2020, Lana Del Rey took to Instagram to air her musical
grievances while comparing herself to other female artists. In her post, Del Rey wrote,
"Now that Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki
Minaj and Beyoncé have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes,
f------, cheating [...] can I please go back to singing about being embodied, feeling beautiful
by being in love even if the relationship is not perfect, or dancing for money – or
whatever I want – without being crucified or saying that I'm glamorizing abuse??????"
While some fans agreed with her, many criticized Del Rey's post, saying her
remarks were "tone-deaf" and "disappointing." One person commented on the post, writing,
"Come on, you should know better. You could've gotten your entire point across without dragging
those other women by name. Be mad at the game, not the other players. Disappointing."
And another person tweeted saying,
"Lana blatantly ignoring the criticism Beyoncé, Nicki, and other black women have
received (and continue to) for being confident in their sexuality doesn't sit right with me."
Del Rey has since spoken out about her post, but did not directly apologize for her comments,
which only made matters worse. In her follow up post, Del Rey declared,
"making it about race says so much more about you than it does about me."
In June, Kelly Clarkson filed for divorce from her husband of nearly seven years,
Brandon Blackstock. Throughout their time together, Clarkson and Blackstock had two
children, and Clarkson also became a stepmom to Blackstock's two children
from his previous marriage. As if 2020 wasn't already awful enough,
going through a divorce with children involved made it even more challenging for Clarkson.
In an interview, Clarkson revealed that she wanted to address her split for her worried fans,
but she hasn't shared much to protect their children. Clarkson did reveal,
however, that these challenges have made her already heartbreaking divorce even
more difficult. She told Entertainment Tonight,
"That's been the hard thing [...] Yes, I'm willing to share my experience and yes,
it is the worst. I mean, the past few months have been horribly sad. But at the same time,
I have to think, [...] 'what I say has a domino effect in other people's lives.'"
Clarkson also reiterated this same sentiment on The Kelly Clarkson Show, saying,
"As you probably know, 2020 has brought a lot of change also to my personal life.
Definitely didn't see anything coming that came, but what I'm dealing with is hard."
"I probably won't go too far into it because, y'know, I'm a mama bear and my kids come first."
Clarkson did reveal how thankful she is to be able to safely be back at work,
on her talk show and on The Voice, surrounded by her fellow judges and friends.
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