University of Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray had just won the award every college football player dreams of: the Heisman Trophy. All his hard work had finally paid off, and not even hours later he was shot down by internet trolls.
Murray used anti-gay slurs on his Twitter account when he was 14 and 15 years old. He later apologized on Twitter.
Similar situations have happened over and over again, and it’s sad to watch. As soon as someone hits their peak, they get shot down because of their “politically incorrect” views from eight years ago.
The internet has made it their goal to ruin anyone’s life if they have ever said anything slightly offensive. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people ranging from nobodies to big name celebrities have been berated with these ridiculous and unnecessary actions online. People have lost their jobs, and sometimes even their lives. I’m not saying some of these aren’t deserved; obviously a line had to be drawn. But the current location of this line is ridiculous.
The America I know prides itself on freedom, including freedom of speech. Our first amendment right makes us stand out from every other country in the world. Everyone has different opinions, so why punish people for expressing theirs? Especially when many of them fall under religious or moral beliefs.
Kevin Williamson, former writer for “The Atlantic,” was hit with this same situation. The angry thumb warriors of Twitter found out he once wrote “women who have abortions should be considered murderers.” As you might be able to imagine, this one didn’t go over well for the left. Abortion is a topic that will always be a discussion, no matter what the law says, and it’s one of those things people won’t change their mind on easily.
The most recent situation happened to the beloved comedian Kevin Hart. Once it was announced he would host the 2019 Oscars, almost immediately nine-year-old tweets from 2010 and 2011 resurfaced. Hart used homophobic slurs and has also had a history of anti gay jokes in his comedy routines, and stepped down due to backlash.
Many celebrities has expressed their opinions on this but one stood out in particular. Ellen DeGeneres came out openly supporting Hart claiming she even called the Academy trying to get him back on as the host.
DeGeneres who is openly gay herself was quoted as saying “You have grown, you have apologized, you are apologizing again right now. Don’t let these people win.”
She later faced backlash for defending him, obviously. Hart and many other felt this was a malicious attack through social media to try and derail his career. It’s sickening, and I know I’m not the only who feels this way.
In too many of these cases the twitter mobbers don’t know the full story before calling their firing, or arrest, or even death. All they are seeing is a snippet of the truth. This has been seen in the media as well, chopping up interviews to make it seem a politician or celebrity is saying something they are obviously not. And this goes for both sides. It’s sad to see more and more of this “fake news” popping up all over the internet.
Sure many of these situations involve pure stupidity, pointless racism, poor phrasing, and far out jokes but we can’t expect people to be perfect every moment of their life.
At the end of the day we’re all tired of it. I’m sick of seeing person after person get shot down because the internet didn’t appreciate what they had to say. We don’t live in a perfect bubble where everything you see is what you want to see, and everyone’s actions is how you’d like to see them be done. We can’t sugarcoat society and hide in our safe space every time something goes wrong. Fight for what you believe in, but don’t ruin another person for disagreeing.
By: Wyatt Hughes, Sports Editor
