Coronavirus: Don't ask Vanessa Hudgens for her terrible tips - Los Angeles Times
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Do not ask Vanessa Hudgens for coronavirus tips. She’s terrible at it

Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Hudgens in Beverly Hills in November 2019.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Really, Vanessa Hudgens? Some comments are so tacky that no context can excuse them.

Take, for example, flippant remarks about people dying from coronavirus.

The “High School Musical” actress landed in hot water when she did an Instagram Live on Monday night. We can’t embed the video because she cusses, so you’ll have to imagine Hudgens’ glassy eyes, occasionally squeaky voice and multiple hair fluffs.

“Yeah, till July sounds like a bunch of [BS], I’m sorry,” the 31-year-old said in a clip taken from the IG Live. She might have been talking about whether the current lockdown mentality would continue until midsummer — but honestly it doesn’t matter what she was responding to, because the bad part came next.

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March 5, 2020

“Yeah, it’s a virus, I get it, like, I respect it,” she said, “but at the same time, even if everybody gets it, like, yeah, people are gonna die, which is terrible, but like” — cue the eye roll — “inevitable?”

Ouch. That one hurt anyone who has, say, older friends or relatives. Or parents.

“I don’t know, maybe I shouldn’t be doing this right now,” Hudgens added with a giggle.

Where is the exploding-head emoji when we truly need it?

The actress might have been a bit tipsy during her livestream. Another video from Monday night, which also included a TikTok clip from her “HSM” costar Ashley Tisdale, appeared to feature Hudgens in the same sweater and necklaces she wore in the Instagram Live, acting like she was drinking red wine. (Word to the wise: Don’t drink and livestream.)

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On Tuesday afternoon, the actress backtracked in an Instagram Story.

“So, yesterday I did an Instagram Live and I realize today that some of my comments are being taken out of context,” she said, giving absolutely zero explanation about what the acceptable context might have been.

“It’s a crazy time. It’s a crazy, crazy time, and I am at home and in lockdown, and that’s what I hope you guys are doing too: In full quarantine, and staying safe and sane. I don’t take this situation lightly, by any means. I am home. So stay inside, y’all.”

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“Jeopardy!” champ Ken Jennings quipped on Twitter that the second video was “a psychological test to see if people believe makeup Vanessa or no-makeup Vanessa.”

Hudgens also tried to apologize later on Twitter. That apology played a little bit better.

“I realize my words were insensitive and not at all appropriate for the situation our country and the world are in right now,” she wrote Tuesday afternoon. “This has been a huge wake up call about the significance my words have, now more than ever.”

Perhaps Hudgens should lock down her phone for a while. Otherwise, the chances that she’ll step in it again seem, well, inevitable.

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