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Ant-Man and The Wasp actress Evangeline Lilly issued an apology on Thursday for her ill-advised comments about self-isolating and downplaying the severity of the ongoing pandemic.
After a week of being lambasted with criticism from fans and former co-stars and other actors for saying her freedom was more important than staying at home and helping reduce the spread of the pandemic, calling things “business as usual,” calling the spreading virus nothing more than a “respiratory flu,” and hinting that she believes the whole thing is some kind of hoax or conspiracy theory, Lilly, or at least her PR team, has seen the error of her ways.
“Hello everyone,” Lilly wrote on social media.
“I am writing you from my home where I have been social distancing since Mar 18th – when social distancing was instituted in the small community where I am currently living.
“At the time of my Mar 16th post, the directives from the authorities here were that we not congregate in groups of more than 250ppl and that we wash our hands regularly, which we were doing. Two days later, those directives changed and, despite my intense trepidation over the socioeconomic and political repercussions of this course of action, PLEASE KNOW I AM DOING MY PART TO FLATTEN THE CURVE, PRACTICING SOCIAL DISTANCING AND STAYING HOME WITH MY FAMILY.
“I want to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology for the insensitivity I showed in my previous post to the very real suffering and fear that has gripped the world through COVID19. Grandparents, parents, children, sisters and brothers are dying, the world is rallying to find a way to stop this very real threat, and my ensuing silence has sent a dismissive, arrogant and cryptic message.
“My direct and special apologies to those most affected by this pandemic. I never meant to hurt you. When I wrote that post 10 days ago, I thought I was infusing calm into the hysteria. I can see now that I was projecting my own fears into an already fearful and traumatic situation.
“I am grieved by the ongoing loss of life, and the impossible decisions medical workers around the world must make as they treat those affected. I am concerned for our communities – small businesses and families living paycheck-to-paycheck – and I am trying to follow responsible recommendations for how to help. Like many of you, I fear for the political aftermath of this pandemic, and I am praying for us all.
“At the same time, I am heartened by the beauty and humanity I see so many people demonstrating toward one another in this vulnerable time. When I was grappling with my own fears over social distancing, one kind, wise and gracious person said to me “do it out of love, not fear” and it helped me to realize my place in all of this.
“Sending love to all of you, even if you can’t return it right now. EL.”
That’s all well and good, but why did it take seven days for her to realize what she said was ridiculously insensitive and dangerous?
It’s not like she didn’t know.
Fellow actress Lesley Ann Brandt’s comment on Lilly’s original post, “So incredibly selfish and irresponsible,” received over 10,000 likes so either Lilly ignored all the remarks directed at her or she didn’t care.
Perhaps rumors of her being written out of the next Ant-Man movie finally got her attention.