Ariana DeBose Deactivating Twitter Following BAFTAs Rap Trolling Proves Female celebrities Are Treated Unfairly

Ariana DeBose had the honour of performing at the 76th EE British Academy Film Awards in London, but what should have been a massive moment for her has unfortunately ended with the star deactivating her Twitter due to an onslaught of online trolling.

Why? Well, let’s rewind to the few minutes after Richard E. Grant’s opening monologue, when Oscar-winner Ariana made her grand entrance on stage, singing away to the tunes Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves and We Are Family. The 32-year-old then unexpectedly transitioned into an original rap in which she shone a light on the all-female nominees of the evening, such as Viola Davis, Ana de Armas and Angela Bassett. “Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis my ‘Woman King,’ Blanchett Cate you’re a genius, Jamie Lee you are all of us,” were just some of the fun, toe-tapping lyrics that she belted out.

The performance was fun, light-hearted and entertainingly camp, and honestly, a far cry from the usual, boring, monotonous and sterile ‘comedy’ monologues often found on the stages of these award shows. So, it’s fair the say that the criticism that the West Side Story star has received has been shocking. Yes, memes and the odd jokes here and there are all innocent, tongue-in-cheek, and nothing we all can’t handle. But when the line crosses over to pure evil, we must step back and re-examine how we dehumanise female celebrities in the public eye. Why must people feel the need to hurl such atrocious, pathetic and downright concerning comments towards someone who was merely just trying to entertain us?

It’s also important to note that it’s highly unfair that Ariana has been attacked to such an extent online for simply singing and dancing to a song with a positive and empowering message while other (male performers) have, yes, faced some backlash, but not to the same extent as Ariana while relaying actual controversial and tasteless jokes at awards ceremonies. Examples are plenty, ie. Chris Rock ruffled feathers at the Oscars as he brought three children of Asian heritage onstage as ‘accountants’ in 2016. Let’s not forget Seth McFarlane, whose horribly sexist musical number “We Saw Your Boobs” at the Oscars 2013, saw him pointing out actresses sitting in the audience who had their breasts visible in movies. Also, there’s Ricky Gervais’ endless tirade of incredibly arduous, humourless jokes while presenting the Golden Globes. Honestly, the list is endless.