Those working in the arts and entertainment have always had to maintain their images, but there’s something about the cultural landscape nowadays that makes this harder than ever.
Because while the celebrities of yesteryear faced scandals and backlash for unpopular behavior, the fact that social media platforms have essentially made it possible to get everyone’s opinion at once can make it hard to tell what the people actually want.
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After all, there’s nothing some people love more than hearing a savage takedown of some anonymous jerk who decided to darken their idol’s doorstep.
But at the same time, there are others who find that behavior unprofessional and consider it a sign that an entertainer is letting their ego get between them and the people who made them famous.
And as the response to one singer’s TikTok illustrates, the entertainer in question doesn’t have to be world famous for debate between these two camps to spring up.
Be advised that the video featured in this article contains explicit language
In a video uploaded to TikTok on November 13, a singer-songwriter named Samantha Lloyd shared an encounter that happened while she was busking.
During a quiet period in her song, a man can be faintly heard saying that he’d pay 20 pounds ($26) for her to “shush.”
As soon as he makes this comment, Lloyd immediately responds by saying, “That’s rude, come say it to my face.”
Though she continued to egg him on, it seemed the heckler wasn’t rising to that challenge, which prompted her to tell him to keep walking.
She also called him a “little boy” by this point and added, “little boy with a little…”
But while she let us fill in the blanks here, she went on to call him something more explicit after suggesting he had a complex that made him abuse women in the street.
She quickly caught herself and apologized to her audience, which she carried on in her video’s description.
As it stated, “Sorry, I lost my patience here and reacted badly but this is nearly everytime I busk.”
In a follow-up video , she also mentioned that this didn’t used to be the case and incidents of men like the one she responded to her heckling her have stepped up significantly in recent times.
And whether they thought this justified what she said or just liked the clapback on its own, some expressed their support for her.
Among this camp, comments such as “Thanks for embarrassing him” and “Is it just me who loves the way you handled it?” were commonly seen.
However, there were just as many (if not more) who agreed with Lloyd when she said she didn’t handle the situation well and said that she may be too thin-skinned for show business.
As the comment that launched her follow-up video said, “She has some attitude, need to take a slagging off you’re a singer not everyone will like you.”
