Biggest Celebrity Social Media Snafus of 2018

Roseanne Barr

One of the biggest social media scandals of 2018 occurred in May, when Roseanne Barr tweeted a racist statement about former President Barack Obama's aide Valerie Jarrett, calling the African-American woman born in Iran the "Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby."

Just hours after her racist statement sparked massive backlash, the Roseanne reboot on ABC was cancelled, to be re-imagined later without Barr as The Conners.

ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said in a short statement at the time, "Roseanne's Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show."

Barr apologized at the time, writing on social media, "I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans. I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks. I should have known better. Forgive me — my joke was in bad taste."

She has since returned to social media, where she has continued to publish controversial and racist sentiments.

Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian earned public outrage over Halloween when she dropped the "R-word" on an Instagram video in reference to people who didn't recognize her costume with best friend Jonathan Cheban.

"Okay guys, we are Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee," Kardashian said on the video, adding, "Nobody knows who we are here! You guys are all too f—ing young. This is so sad."

In another video, she could be heard saying, "Nobody knows who I am. Yeah! R—."

After stirring up anger online, Kardashian issued an apology statement to E! News. "I want to apologize for what I said in a recent video post that is inappropriate and insensitive to the special needs community," she said. "I try to learn from my mistakes, and this is one of those times. Please know that my intention is always pure, and in this case, it was a mistake. I'm sorry."

Armie Hammer

Armie Hammer's commentary about public grieving in the wake of the death of Marvel legend Stan Lee didn't quite go over like the Call Me By Your Name actor imagined.

"So touched by all of the celebrities posting pictures of themselves with Stan Lee... no better way to commemorate an absolute legend than putting up a picture of yourself," Hammer wrote in a now-deleted tweet after Lee's Nov. 12 death.

People were quick to come after Hammer for what they thought was a needlessly judgemental attitude towards people commemorating a hero, including The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who clapped back on Twitter, "Looks like you found a way to use others' ways of mourning and their memories to draw some attention to yourself. You sound like a real a—hat."

Hammer came back with an apology soon after, writing, "While attempting to provide some unnecessary social commentary about the current selfie culture, I (in true a—hat form – thank you Jeffrey Dean Morgan) inadvertently offended many who were genuinely grieving the loss of a true icon. I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart and will be working on my Twitter impulse control."

Lorde

Lorde found herself in trouble with fans of Whitney Houston in April 2018 after posting a photo of a bathtub on Instagram with the late icon's lyrics, "And iiii will always love you."

Fans pointed out that the photo and lyrics juxtaposition were insensitive, as Houston died at 48 in 2012 after accidentally drowning in a bathtub.

Lorde soon deleted the post and apologized on her Story writing, "Extremely extremely poorly chosen quote. I'm so sorry for offending anyone – I hadn't even put this together I was just excited to take a bath. I'm an idiot. Love Whitney forever and ever. Sorry again."

Kim Zolciak Biermann

The former Real Housewives of Atlanta star's social media usage came under scrutiny in October, when photos she posted of her 4-year-old twins Kaia and Kane appeared to be Photoshopped to slim the toddler's tummy and make Kaia's butt more pronounced.

Followers slammed the editing as a disgusting sexualization of children, but Zolciak Biermann denied making any changes to the pictures.

"People are f—in SICK!! Get the f— out here!! No post was taken down and no photo has been nor will ever be edited of my children! I will no longer stand for this bulls—!" she wrote on Twitter at the time.

The internet largely wasn't buying it, however, with one follower responding at the time, "I'd love to believe you, but I've seen a video of your [Instagram] pic/story, and it's CLEARLY photoshopped-there are before and after shots. Sad, really."

Jenelle Evans

Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans is known for stirring things up online, but when the MTV star posted a photo with a semi-automatic rifle on the same day that 17 people were killed in the Parkland school shooting, fans demanded she be fired for her insensitivity.

Despite complaints that Evans would post a photo with a similar weapon to that used in the attack, the reality personality only briefly alluded to the controversy, tweeting the phrase "bad timing."

David Eason

Evans' husband, David Eason, has been getting into even more serious trouble due to his social media activity, getting a visit from the Secret Service in December after posting what appeared to be threats to a number of prominent politicians alongside a video of himself firing a rifle with a bump stock.

"They will say I've gone off the deep end just wait for it!" he captioned the video, including hashtags "Bang bang bang," "bump fire," "bump this," "Nancy Pelosi," "Trump" and "MAGA."

But the visit from the Secret Service did nothing to deter Eason's troubling behavior. The fired MTV personality even recorded himself rummaging through a massive amount of ammunition, stockpiles of magazines and poisoned darts.

"Thanks for the visit from your secret service friends today [President Donald Trump]," Eason wrote on social media. "I told them how much I like you except the fact you want to ban bump stocks and take guns away from people just because someone 'red flagged' them. Then I told them to get the f— out of my house and don't ever come pass my trespassing signs again. Like holy s—, I thought your people were all about border security. Well there is a border around my land that is protected from intruders by lethal force also, just like your house. Don't expect my gate to ever be open again."

Eason continued, "I hope and pray that nobody ever tries to trespass on my property as they will be met with fire and fury, the likes of which they have never seen before."

Kevin Hart

Comedian Kevin Hart's past comments on social media came back to haunt him in December, when just hours after he was announced as the host of the 2019 Oscars, homophobic tweets and comments from his past resurfaced.

In one, Hart said someone looked like "a gay bill board for AIDS" and called another person a "FAT F–." In another, he wrote, "I just saw the biggest gay guy ever! This n– looked like hulf (sic) hogan with heels on! I can't lie I got scared!!!!!!"

Following the backlash from the public, Hart released a statement on social media refusing to apologize.

"Stop looking for reasons to be negative... Stop searching for reasons to be angry," Hart wrote. "I swear I wish you guys could see/feel/understand the mental place that I am in. I am truly happy people... there is nothing that you can do to chance that... NOTHING. I work hard on a daily basis to spread positivity to all... with that being said. If u want to search my history or past and anger yourselves with what u find that is fine with me. I'm almost 40 years old and I'm in love with the man that I am becoming."

That apology enraged people even more, and soon after, Hart announced he was stepping down as the host.

Photo credit: Getty / Angela Weiss