J-Law’s spot-on message to bloggers: “You can do something good”
Here’s the deal about apologies: You don’t ALWAYS have to accept them.
Such is the case of Jennifer Lawrence, who is NOT accepting the apology of blogger Perez Hilton, who reposted the leaked nude photos of Lawrence that flooded the website 4chan, and then later deleted those photos and tried to make amends on Twitter:
“At work we often have to make quick decisions. I made a really bad one today and then made it worse. I feel awful and am truly sorry,” Hilton explained.
He later went one step further with a video apology:
“A lot of you let me know that my actions were wrong. I didn’t even stop to think about my actions.”
But Lawrence wasn’t having it. And she sums up why in her interview featured in the latest Vanity Fair:
“He took it down because people got pissed, and that’s the only reason why. And then I had to watch his apology. And what he basically said was, ‘I just didn’t think about it.’ ‘I just didn’t think about it’ is not an excuse. That is the exact issue itself.”
Now watch how she turns a bad situation into a TEACHABLE MOMENT — like a boss.
“You have a choice. You don’t have to be a person who spreads negativity and lies for a living. You can do something good.”
She’s right on the money. People do build reputations on the Internet and in print by compromising other people’s privacy. That’s a choice that gets pageviews. That’s a lifestyle that pays bills. But it’s so wrongheaded to believe that the only way for the media to make a buck is by way of joining in the exploitation of others. We all have to check ourselves when we’re drowning in the posting grind, and remember there is a person on the other end of every story with real feelings whose privacy might be deeply invaded.
There are so many media personalities who build their careers and followings on a good foundation: being honest and working hard, developing a voice people want to listen to and delivering stories people want to hear. That voice doesn’t have to be poisonous. Those stories don’t have to hurt anyone. You always have a choice. You can be the Voldemort of the Internet or you can be the Glinda the Good Witch of the World Wide Web. You can be a person who actively participates in media and still be a person who can wake up in the morning and actually bear to look at yourself in the mirror. Sometimes, all it takes is a stern reminder from a very wise woman.
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