I get the feeling that a lot of celebrities’ reputations are going to be made or broken by this epidemic. Early champions in the fight have been Tom Hanks and Idris Elba, who’ve documented their COVID-19 diagnoses on social media and made sure to pass on official medical advice. But where there are heroes, there are also villains.
Step forward Ant-Man and The Wasp, The Hobbit and Lost star Evangeline Lilly, who seems determined to annoy everyone with a series of very dumb pronouncements. The story began earlier this week when Lilly posted an Instagram update about dropping her kids off at a gym class, saying that life is “#businessasusual” for her. When reading the uniformly disappointed and angry responses to that post, a smart person might have walked back the comments. Not Lilly, though.
When quizzed by fans, she responded:
“Some people value their lives over freedom, some people value freedom over their lives. We all make choices.”
She later said:
“Where we are right now feels a lot too close to Marshall Law for my comfort already, all in the name of a respiratory flu. It’s unnerving.”
I’m pretty sure Lilly isn’t referring to Tekken‘s Bruce-Lee-a-like Marshall Law here, and in fact means “martial law.” Anyway, these comments (not helped by the fact that she lives with her elderly father who’s suffering from leukemia) made fans furious, and here’s a selection of their responses from Twitter:
https://twitter.com/collado_tricia/status/1240725194668265472?s=20
Gwyneth Paltrow. Jessica Biel, Kristin Cavallari, Mayim Biyalik, and Vanessa Hudgens warmly welcomes Evangeline Lily into the exclusive "Society of Assholes That Don't Realize They Live in a Society."
— Matcha Fan Mandy Salvage (@earlgreyhottea) March 19, 2020
I love evangeline lily, but I need her to understand it's not just her health she's putting on the line. Celebrities why.
— Jaylynn (@regaljaylynn) March 19, 2020
https://twitter.com/gafferongames/status/1240723271982682112?s=20
Well now Antman is ruined, awesome Evangeline Lily. Thanks a lot.
— Future Dr. Weknowdis (@JimmyDanielle7) March 19, 2020
https://twitter.com/_lorem__ipsum__/status/1240721703141027848?s=20
https://twitter.com/MrsNeverwhere/status/1240747898830303234
People are surprised Evangeline Lily is a moron? I'll be damned.
— 𝐀𝐥𝐢 𝐯𝐬. 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝 (@Ali_Galactic) March 19, 2020
https://twitter.com/Ingi70/status/1240747893633531910
I’m not surprised folks are so angry. Millions of people around the world have drastically modified their lives. Even if you’re not in an at-risk demographic, you can still transmit the virus to those who are. Most people recognize that and have taken necessary steps, so to see a wealthy celebrity blithely holding court and talking about “Marshall Law” gets the hackles up.
If I were Evangeline Lilly, I’d start looking for a PR agent right about now and do some fundraising for those financially affected by the pandemic.