Justin Bieber and Jonah Hill have had a rough week. The tween dream and newly minted "real actor" have both been caught foot in mouth, launching PR campaigns to atone for their sins.
Let's recap:
Earlier this week, a video of Hill calling a photographer a homophobic slur was released. Meanwhile, not one, but two newly released videos show the Biebs using the "N" word repeatedly and talking about joining the KKK. (Ugh.)
It goes without saying that both instances are not OK. But in the best of worlds—hello, after-school special!—both are also "teachable moments." These two stars are hardly the only ones to harbor racist or homophobic thoughts, and how they address these thoughts can inspire others to look inside themselves and confront their own (maybe even subconscious) hate.
An optimistic reading on the situation? Perhaps. But the power of celebrities to influence "real people" cannot be overstated . . . for better or for worse.
So, how did the two do in their mea culpa moments?
Justin Bieber
Bieber's videos are, in many ways, more damning than Hill's. For one thing, there's two of them (really Justin? Really?). For another, he is much more explicit in his vitriol—where Hill dropped the homophobic "f" word once, Bieber dropped the racist "n" word repeatedly, with each new usage driving the knife deeper. And newsflash: joking about the KKK is not OK. Ever. In any capacity. It's the freaking KKK.
Then again, the videos are from when he was 15, so he deserves some slack. Teenagers can be vicious, ignorant, hormonal monsters, and I'm sure we all look back on things we did—and said—in those years with red-faced regret.
In his apology, Justin shrewdly—and rather powerfully—used this past experience to say something about youth itself: that it doesn't justify being an A-hole, but that mistakes made then can be used to inform maturity in adulthood.
As a young man, I didn't understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt. I thought it was OK to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn't realize at the time that it wasn't funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance.
I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously, and I apologize for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake. I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world and to not make that mistake again.
Grade: B+. Let's hope teens take note.
Jonah Hill
The media has been swooning over what's been dubbed Hill's "apology tour," including stops on the Howard Stern show and The Tonight Show. The reason? Unlike some celebs who've downplayed their remarks, Hill has been downright aggressive in his self-flagellation. On Stern, he said what he did was "disgusting." On The Tonight Show, he laid it on even thicker:
The word I chose was grotesque, and no one deserves to say or hear words like that. I’m sorry, and I don’t deserve or expect your forgiveness.
AND:
If someone says something that hurt you or angers you, use me as an example of what not to do. Don't respond with hatred or anger, because you are just adding more ugliness to the world.
Grade: A. It takes guts to 100% own up to your own mistakes, with no excuses or justifications to save face. Now that's a teachable moment. (Although interesting enough, apparently there's a hefty camp of folks who basically chalk up Hill's "homophobic" tongue to nothing more than anger temporarily clouding logic...not that Hill has some secret gay-hate in his heart.)
Image: Wikimedia Commons
