Jamie Lee Curtis Blasted After Changing Stance On Covington Catholic Teen’s Faceoff With Native American Elder
Jamie Lee Cutis says she made a “snap judgment” and regrets commenting on the viral video of an encounter between a Native American elder and a group of Kentucky Catholic high school boys in front of the Lincoln Memorial last week.
In an apologetic tweet, which you can see below, the Halloween star admitted there are two sides to every story and that she judged the situation based on a photograph. Curtis included a screenshot of a statement from Covington Catholic High School junior Nick Sandmann, who denied that he and his classmates taunted a group of Native American activists while in Washington D.C. for the March for Life rally last Friday.
A viral video of Sandmann “staring down” Omaha elder Nathan Phillips as other students—many of them wearing Make America Great Again hats—laughed in the background made headlines over the weekend, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.
The initial viral video showed Nathan Phillips playing the drum and chanting while he stood in front of a smirking Sandmann, who was wearing a red MAGA hat. In the short clip, other students appear to be mocking Phillips, who was taking part in the Indigenous Peoples March. But subsequent, longer videos showing events leading up to the faceoff, and a statement from Sandmann telling his side of the story has caused some people to question if the students were actually harassing Phillips, a Vietnam veteran.
Unfortunately there is too often a rush to judgement from our media and social media these days. We should stop and look at the facts first.
The Media Wildly Mischaracterized That Video of Covington Catholic Students. https://t.co/NATjAQNqVW
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 21, 2019
Jamie Lee Curtis appears to be one that has changed her tune or at least wants to hear all sides of the situation before commenting on it.
“I made a snap judgment based on a photograph & I know better than to judge a book by its cover,” Curtis tweeted of the incident, adding, “I wasn’t there. I shouldn’t have commented. I’m glad there wasn’t violence.”
Curtis referenced what seems to be some now-deleted tweets she made about the situation after video of the encounter between Phillips and the Covington Catholic High School students sporting MAGA hats went viral. The actress added that she hopes that Phillips and Sandmann can meet and find “common ground” and she even suggested that Donald Trump hold a “root beer” summit for the two men.
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
Jamie Lee Curtis’ flipped switch had some people criticizing her stance, according to the Hollywood Reporter. One critic told Curtis she has been “bamboozled” by a press release written by an adult, while others expressed disappointment in the actress for not believing what she saw in the initial video.
“This is terribly disappointing,” a commenter fired back at Curtis. “I thought you were someone dedicated to honesty and truth and here you are saying a press release convinced you that what you saw was false.”
But some followers praised Jamie Lee Curtis for being willing to entertain “the other side” of the story after Sandmann issued a statement explaining that he was trying to defuse a tense situation that began when a group of Black Hebrew Israelite members shouted slurs at his group just before Nathan Phillips approached them. Phillips told People Sandmann blocked his path as he walked in prayer toward the Lincoln Memorial.
Jamie Lee Curtis is not the only Hollywood celebrity to weigh in on the Covington Catholic controversy. Actress Alyssa Milano made headlines for tweeting, “The red MAGA hat is the new white hood.” Other stars, including Patton Oswalt, Kathy Griffin, Ava DuVernay and more have also weighed in on the high school scandal.
