‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pro Lindsay Arnold Blasted for Vacationing Amidst the Pandemic

Dancing With the Stars pro Lindsay Arnold is facing backlash after going on a vacation amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to E! News, the dancer, who welcomed daughter Sage in November, and her husband, Sam Cusick, went on a tropical getaway recently. The whole situation started after Arnold posted a photo of herself posing on the beach on Instagram, captioning the photo with, “Vacation time.”

It didn’t take long before users responded to Arnold’s post to criticize her for traveling during the worldwide pandemic. Many of those users were especially incensed by the fact that she recently went on vacation, as many individuals across the United States did not travel over the holidays to see their families to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. One user particularly criticized the DWTS personality for being “on a freakin vacation with your infant baby!!! Come on!” Another wrote, “it’s so sad to see influencers flying and going on vacation with no worries about the virus.”

On Wednesday, Arnold addressed those critics on her Instagram Story. She posted a photo of herself smiling and sharing a thumbs up, which she captioned with, “This is my thumbs up to everyone out there who actually thinks it’s okay to comment or criticize on anyone else’s parenting. Why? Why do we do this to others? Especially people we don’t even know.” She continued to write that she is “FAR from perfect,” and added, “believe me you don’t need to remind me of that but why don’t we use our energy and words to be encouraging instead of always looking for the negative and finding things to criticize. I’m very over it.”

Arnold gave birth to her first child, daughter Sage, in November via C-section. At the time, the reality star announced her daughter’s birth by posting a family photo and writing, “The most beautiful surprise on this special day. Baby girl and mama are happy and well.” Arnold and Cusick later shared that they named their daughter Sage Jill Cusick, and the name has a special connection to their family. Arnold explained, “She entered this world on the same day that we lost Sam’s beautiful mother just one year ago and we couldn’t help but see God’s hand in this and know that Sage was handed down to us by her beautiful angel grandmother, Jennifer Jill Gillette Cusick.”