Former Suits star Patrick J. Adams is apologizing for his behavior on social media following the royal wedding this past weekend between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
Adams attended the wedding at St. George’s Castle on Saturday along with his wife Troian Bellisario. The two hopped on a plane out of London to make their way back to the United States, but had an unfortunate encounter with a fellow passenger on the plane.
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In a since-deleted Instagram post, Adams took a photo of a woman who was asleep who he claimed insulted the two of them earlier in the flight.
“She reads her paper. See’s picture of me and Troian from wedding. ‘My God. What a terrible photo of you.’ I look over. ‘Really. I kind of like that photo. What do you think is wrong with it?’ She pauses. ‘Well, you’re just so….chunky.’ She laughs and falls asleep. I photograph her sleeping. And….scene. #royalwedding,” Adams wrote.
The post earned Adams a wave of backlash on social media with fans calling him out for body-shaming the woman.
He deleted the post, and on Monday returned to Instagram with a lengthy apology.
“And now for a quick lesson on body shaming, apologizing and media outlets,” Adams’ photo in the post read.
“Yesterday I posted a photo of a woman who did some casual body shaming of my wife and I in the airport,” Adams wrote in the caption. “My intention was solely to put a face to the people who think that sort of glancing commentary is necessary, helpful or funny. Some of the comments on the post instead said I was being a bully and should have taken the ‘high road’ (some also doubled down on the body shaming. Thumbs up guys!) I thought it over and agreed and took it down, not because I felt the woman was right or fair or undeserving of being called out but because any sense of being a bully or lashing out felt wrong.”
“I’m no bully. What that woman said to us was offensive and unnecessary but I should have told her she was rude and out of line and left it at that,” he continued. “I’m sorry I didn’t. I was too shocked and annoyed and Canadian – so I avoided the confrontation. Again, I’m sorry.”
He then went on to share what he had learned from the situation, giving his followers some advice based on what he had learned.
“1. Don’t talk shit about the way people look. You have no idea what’s going on with them and your commentary will always make their day worse not better,” Adams wrote. “2. If someone does. Don’t use the Internet to settle scores. Tell them right to their face and in public that they’re part of the problem and not the solution. 3. Believe pretty much nothing you read in magazines. Good or bad. The machinery runs on misfortune and oversimplification. 4. Be cool to yourself and others at every opportunity. Life is too short for all of this. Thx for reading. Now back to our lives…”
Adams and Markle were written off the Suits series following the Season 7 finale, with the two characters getting married and moving to Seattle, Washington.
