Even before the world adopted social media, celebrities have received mass adoration, but also, mass hatred. But, when it comes to the following celebrities, the world just loved to hate them, even though they didn’t deserve it:
1. Rhea Chakraborty
After actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, the world wasted no time in branding his girlfriend Rhea, a criminal. Though the authorities have not convicted her in any way, her career has already been derailed, and she continues to be harassed online, till date.
2. Shefali Jariwala
The actor became an overnight sensation after she appeared in the video of the hit remix, Kaanta Laga. Since then, her entire identity was reduced to a single video she appeared in. She even shared that she was judged for being a divorcee, and people remarked “yeh toh Kaanta Laga ladki hai, yeh bohot bold hai.”.
3. Anushka Sharma
As an actor and a producer, Sharma has backed important stories, and supported new talent. And yet, the world is far too quick to blame her for every loss on the cricket field. Because men can do no wrong, can they?
4. Sunny Leone
Leone never hid her past as a porn star, nor was she ashamed of it. And she had no reason to either. But our patriarchal society wasted no time in judging and trolling her. Because the world loves to hate women who own up to their desires, and worse still, are unapologetic about it.
5. Abhishek Bachchan
This one really is a mystery, because as far as ‘products’ of nepotism go, there are actors who are way less talented than Junior B, and yet don’t receive half the criticism he does. But love him or hate him, Abhishek Bachchan just keeps on being his witty self.
6. Britney Spears
Britney Spears was branded as controversy’s favourite child during most of the early 2000s when the reality could not be further from the truth. The media’s vilification of Spears is one of the most common examples of how female celebrities are judged far more harshly than their male counterparts.
7. Meghan Markle
The sheer hatred directed towards Meghan Markle for simply being honest about her experiences is not just shocking, but also disheartening. And her husband Harry, who has not only supported her but shared his own traumatic experiences as well, does not receive half the trolling or hate that Markle is subjected to.
8. Andrew Garfield
Yes, his stint as Spider-Man left a lot to be desired but does he really deserve to be hated for life for one film? Because by that logic, we’d be hard-pressed to find even a single actor who does not have at least one regretful role in his filmography.
9. Yoko Ono
Despite repeated denials by band mates, Yoko Ono is still blamed for The Beatles’ split. Because hating and logic don’t always go hand-in-hand.
10. Taylor Swift
Artists always take inspiration from their lives, but Swift appears to be the only one who is mocked and judged for it. But Swift follows her own advice and just ‘shakes it off’.
11. Rekha
An industry veteran, she may not be at the receiving end of society’s hatred today. But there was a time when the world was far too quick to sensationalize a personal tragedy (the death of her husband) in the name of “news”, and judge her for alleged affairs.
12. Swara Bhaskar
The world has issues. Swara has opinions. It’s almost like the hatred wrote itself, right? But is that really the kind of society we want – where a person is hated simply for having an opinion?
The world is far too quick to offer judgement, but these people did not deserve the hate they received.
