Jamie Lee Curtis is walking back her comments over criticism aimed toward the Kentucky Catholic high school teenagers in a video that went viral last weekend.
The actress admitted she jumped to conclusions over a viral video she came across. The clip shows a group of teenagers from Covington Catholic High School — an all-boys school in Northern Kentucky — that appeared to be mocking a Native American man who was walking in the Indigenous Peoples March at the Lincoln Memorial.
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Curtis’s original tweet is unclear due to her deleting them, but her statement following that reads, “There are two sides to every story. I made a snap judgement based on a photograph & I know better than to judge a book by its cover. I wasn’t there. I shouldn’t have commented. I’m glad there wasn’t violence. I hope theses two men can meet and find common ground as can WE ALL!”
There are two sides to every story. I made a snap judgment based on a photograph & I know better than to judge a book by its cover. I wasn’t there. I shouldn’t have commented. I’m glad there wasn’t violence. I hope theses two men can meet and find common ground as can WE ALL! pic.twitter.com/R20v9ot2Ey
— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) January 21, 2019
Her tweet is attached to a photo that appears to be a statement made by the teen in the video, Nick Sandmann, standing face-to-face with the elder who’s part of the Omaha tribe, Nathan Phillips.
Curtis quickly followed up with another tweet suggesting the President get involved.
“Maybe the POTUS could invite the young man in the video and the Native American war HERO to the WH for a talk and a (root) beer like [Barack Obama] did with the Boston PD officer and [Henry Louis Gates].”
Maybe the POTUS could invite the young man in the video and the Native American war HERO to the WH for a talk and a (root) beer like @BarackObama did with the Boston PD officer and @HenryLouisGates
— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) January 21, 2019
Phillips said he felt like “hate unbridled” and that he became concerned for not just his safety, but for those around him.
Sandmann — who was wearing a Make America Great Again hat — made a video statement with Today.
“As far as standing there,” he said. “I had every right to do so. My position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr. Phillips, I respect him, I’d like to talk to him.”
He continued with, “In hindsight, I wish we could have walked away and avoided the whole thing.”
According to CNN the, the video that went viral only showed one perspective.
CNN reporter, Sara Sidner said, “We know now from a longer video that there was a lot going on — a lot of tension — being hurled at these kids from four black men standing there who call themselves ‘Hebrew Israelites’, they started all this tension and you saw there, Nathan Phillips, walking up with his drum coming in between the two groups.”
“I was not intentionally making faces at the protester,” Sandmann told CNN. “I did smile at one point because I wanted him to know that I was not going to become angry, intimidated or be provoked into a larger confrontation. I am a faithful Christian and practicing Catholic, and I always try to live up to the ideals my faith teaches me — to remain respectful of others, and to take no action that would lead to conflict or violence.”
Curtis may have shared new thoughts on the situation but other celebrities like Jim Carrey and Alyssa Milano are standing firm in their statements.
