This week has been a bit of a mixed bag for the celebrity tweeters of this world. Kanye West earns the otherwise elusive respect of millions by apologising for Imma let you finish; Kevin Pietersen is fined for tweeting about knobs and Australian Olympic swimmer and rugby fan Stephanie Rice was dumped by Jaguar for tweeting that the Springboks are “faggots”. Specifically, she tweeted, post the last-minute Wallaby victory: “Suck on that faggots!” Not really the sort of thing that’s open to misinterpretation, then.
Fellow Aussie, Olympic gold-winning diver Matthew Mitcham — who happens to be gay — came to Rice’s defence, also on Twitter (would that make it a twefence? Sorry), saying that the comment was offensive and thoughtless, but he knew she was not homophobic. “She meant no malice, and she has apologised for her careless comment posted in the excitement of the moment,” he said.
Naturally, this has descended into one of those enervating how-pathetically-PC-is-this debates. Those who think Jaguar totally overreacted seemed to have confused a marketing problem with a freedom of speech issue, and a few seem to have got their knickers thoroughly knotted over this. (The best response I read was this observation: “Jaguar was upset that ‘the gay community’ would get be offended by being compared to a bunch of useless overpaid idiots. I’d be offended too if someone compared me to Springbokke.”)
I think Jaguar was absolutely right to dump her, and I’m somewhat mystified as to what possessed them to hire her as a brand ambassador at the beginning of this year in the first place. Yes, she’s obviously very good at getting from one end of a swimming pool to another, but does that automatically qualify her to personify a car that comes with wood veneer trim and 10-way power bucket seats?
Rice’s other sponsors have not dumped her, but when you’re selling bras and panties rather than $100 000 sports cars, that’s a much easier call to make. If I were the brand manager of an energy drink, say, I’d be less worried. If asked, I’d say that we are all human and we understand how sport fires us up and we say (and tweet) things we might regret later. Slip-ups are understandable. A bit of controversy would be a good thing: if Kevin Pietersen’s turned into a nice, likeable, restrained sort of chap, we’d all be terribly disappointed.
But as a luxury brand, Jaguar lives or dies by the perception of whether it communicates classiness (which is, of course, why a lot of singularly unclassy people drive luxury cars and hip hop stars with gold in their teeth drink Cristal champagne, but the argument holds in principle). Many of Jaguar’s customers are gay. And no matter your sexual persuasion, would you want to buy a Jag if every time you thought of the brand, you were reminded: “Suck on that faggots!”
So there’s no real debate about freedom of speech here. Here’s the thing with being a celebrity who is continually bucketed by fat splodges of wonga for promoting this jewellery store or that underwear brand. You don’t get to say what you like. On a public forum like Twitter, where everything you say is visible to everyone, you have to subject yourself to continual censorship. That’s how it is.
I can see more celebrity tweet scandals looming. The trouble with Twitter is that it offers a false sense of intimacy, while persuading the unwise to forget how public it is. Combined with the ease with which anyone can jab in a quick tweet on the old iPhone, and it’s a recipe for trouble. We all tweet things we probably shouldn’t. But we’re not celebrities, and nobody really cares when we’re rude about the sheepshaggers.
Twitter simply proves that mankind wants to dumb down, I am a 25 year old Software developer and I see no point in twitter. Watching soap opera’s and tweeting about going to the bathroom are in the same bracket of intelligence.
Interesting distinction. I think freedom of speech as commonly conceptualised and defended is freedom to say what you like against central (state) authority.
As technology has given everyone a more widely projected voice, that voice is still judged within the finely striated network of social obligations within which we all find ourselves.
We may have freedom of speech to say things that are offensive to the state without fearing reprisals.
But if we offend friends, family, employers or professional colleagues we will of course have to face the consequences.
It’s not a freedom of speech issue, it’s a simple question of social skills and emotional intelligence.
Suck on that faggots! Classic
Stephanie’s a hottie. And Stephanie’s barely out of her adolescence at age 22. People of that age are bound to say stupid things.
And people of that age are 30 years too young to be driving a Jaguar anyway.
Zuma and Malema could do themselves a lot less damage on Twitter, but if you are public property you lose your right to privacy.
Jaguar paid for a particular image, Rice didn’t come up with the goods.
Ask yourself why Clinton Minor (Bill) denied the blow job…because he was a married man or because he was the president?
Dear Jaguar,
I swear like a trooper (as do many of my gay friends) and I might not have quite the look you found in Rice, but I’d praise your brand sky-high and probably add a new dimension to your present market. I can also assure you that Jaguar would become known as a brand chosen by considerate road users who know exactly where their indicator switch is located on the walnut dashboard. Please consider this my application for the position Rice has just vacated.
Yours faithfully,
MLH
“Here’s the thing with being a celebrity who is continually bucketed by fat splodges of wonga for promoting this jewellery store or that underwear brand. You don’t get to say what you like”
Love that wording, is ‘splodges of wonga’ an original, or a common saying in Oz? Either way, it couldn’t be more ozzarific if it tried.
What about Jags freedom of action/speech??
brent
‘Splodges of wonga’ was terminology used by Simon Mann and Mark Thatcher. Now possibly an adopted South Africanism.
I’m a 43 year old lesbian with a tattoo and swearing too much. I watch 7de laan and enjoy it. I’m applying for poster girl for Black Lable. Suck on that, straighties!
Faggot n. bundle of dry sticks bound together.
Perhaps it was simply a comment on their wooden style of play?
Persnally I have no idea why she should even apologise for an outburst on a social personal netowrk. I am so tired of celebrities / sportstars apologising for being themselves in order to retain sponsors. They lose respect in my book.
I would have loved to see Tiger Woods say “You know what, I got a billion dollars in the bank and I am not sorry I was having great sex with all those pornstars, I am just sorry I got caught because my wife is not going to take me apart, so why dont you all go and get stuffed”
Instead he has this bogus apologu and media circus – respect gone. And likewise with Rice – at the time it made me laugh, and I liked her more for it for being passionate about a great game of rugby, if we had won I would have been venting simliar sentiments with the mates I was getting hammered with. But whats with the tears and apology – tell em to F*ck off! The PC brigade really really bore me.
I also think that Jag were right to drop her. Apparently though the insults were aimed not at the Bok players but the SA fans who seem to think their very lives depend on winning a game of rugby and their immature behavior reflects that belief.