I Sincerely Apologize...Or Do I?
When it comes to public apologies, celebrities are the experts. From politicians to sports stars, news anchors and reality has-beens, musicians aren’t exempt from learning to grit their teeth and murmur a polite word or two. Some are sincere, many are not, and most have a PR feeding them lines from the wings.
Musician and actor Jared Leto was recently caught on video listening to – and dissing – songs from Taylor Swift’s record 1989. While he gives out a few compliments in the beginning, he finishes off his personal review with, “I mean fuck her, I don’t give a fuck about her.”
While Leto claimed TMZ stole the ‘private footage’, the 30 Seconds to Mars frontman was forced to comment on his negative words towards the pop star. Most scandalous widespread situations, such as Lance Armstrong and Paula Deen’s cases, had chosen to give their confession on television via interview, but low-key events can get away with the rapidity and insincerity of the Internet.
Being that Twitter has been the outlet of heartfelt sincerity for the past decade, within 140 characters that is, this was obviously Leto’s optimum choice of communication. He publically apologized, writing, "The truth is I think @TaylorSwift13 is amazing + an incredible example of what's possible. If I hurt her or her fans my sincerest apologies."
The grammar of the Tweet alone is enough to denounce its sincerity, begging to be read in a mimic of Leto’s tone dripping with sarcasm. An incredible example of what’s possible? What’s possible Jared? A teen pop idol who makes music that you unsurprisingly dislike? He just stated, if not more simply, that she’s not so amazing – so why bother with the pleasantries?
Though their fan names are enough to make you gag, the Swifties aren’t the ones Leto needs to worry about offending. They aren’t about to destroy their pop idol’s shrine because the new Joker said a few bad words about their hero – and if you aren’t a Swifty then well, you probably don’t care anyway. More fittingly, Leto should be the one afraid. He may have a fan club just for his hair alone, but the man beneath has nothing on Swift's millions of Twitter followers.
If Leto were bashing another artist in his genre, his competition if you will, it would be easier to see why an imminent apology was necessary. Not every rock star is going to love pop music and every other musician in the music industry – he’s entitled to his opinion. Likewise, if he were criticizing a product of some kind, say his new neon green hair dye of choice, it’s easier to see how that could be damaging to the company.
Swift has obviously learned to ‘shake off’ her haters, having not been everyone’s favourite pop star in the past – the infamous 2009 MTV Video Music Awards debacle with Kanye West having resulted in a similar apology. West apologized to Swift on Leno but she’s not as easy a target anymore, the event giving her massive publicity.
In such politically correct world it’s almost impossible not to step on anyone’s toes when stating an opinion. Everyone’s entitled to one and yet so many are shamed for their views, forcing an insincere apology for the sake of saving face. Leto ended up suing TMZ for the incident, his opinion obviously meant to stay behind closed doors.
