People are freaking out about actress Sarah Hyland’s Golden Globes video.
Hyland, along with other celebrities such as Laverne Cox and Millie Bobbie Brown, recently starred in a video for Instyle Magazine. The video, which Hyland later posted on Instagram, features her pretending to be drunk in an elevator, holding a bottle of champagne. As she tries to leave the elevator she stumbles back into the arms of the bellhop, also known as #JohnTheBellhop.
With this year’s Golden Globes being focused around sexual harassment and the Time’s Up movement, many are calling Hylands video “tone-deaf.”
One user took to Twitter, saying, “Really? In this climate? You show a young girl — drunk and falling into the arms of an older man as the doors close to give her no escape? Tone deaf much?” Another user wrote, “Perhaps not the greatest clip to show for #timesupnow dude was a bit handsy.”
Following the backlash, Hyland came to her own defense stating in a Twitter post that “#JohnTheBellhop is a very nice old man. FYI. *completely sober*.” Some fans also rallied behind her, one commenting on Twitter: “Wait a sec. People are getting offended by Sarah Hyland’s elevator clip? First of all, it’s a harmless and silly clip. Not even sexual. Secondly, even if it were, who are we to tell a woman what to do with her body or sexuality?”
It’s also important to remember that Hyland has been a strong advocate against sexual harassment in the past. Before this year’s Golden Globes, she even stated that “time’s up on silence.” Additionally, Hyland was wearing black at the award show, a sign of “solidarity with victims of sexual abuse.”
Although Sarah Hyland’s video has taken both Twitter and Instagram by storm, it’s important to not forget about the real issues of sexual abuse. With so many people freaking about about a video that is clearly staged, it seems as though the real stories are getting left in the dust.
The video was undoubtedly posted with poor timing on Hyland’s part, and it’s hard to imagine that an advocate like herself would purposefully exploit such a serious issue.
While the “Modern Family” actress still remains in hot water several days after the Golden Globes, let’s not let a distasteful video take away from the severe subjects of sexual harassment.
