These days, many celebrities are using their public platforms to urge people to follow the advice of experts when it comes to the coronavirus, and for the moment, that means encouraging social distancing and self-quarantine to help “flatten the curve.”
But not everyone in Tinseltown is following that path during the pandemic.
This week, Marvel Universe star and former “Lost” actress Evangeline Lilly used her Instagram to inform her fans and followers that it's “business as usual” for her family.
“Just dropped my kids off at gymnastics camp,” she wrote alongside a photo of a cup of tea. “They all washed their hands before going in. They are playing and laughing. #businessasusual.”
On March 16, the coronavirus task force urged Americans to avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people.
It didn’t take long for commenters to inform Lilly that it’s anything but usual for most people, and carelessness in the age of coronavirus could be dangerous for others.
“Please stay at home with your family. Flatten the curve and save lives. Irresponsible,” one person wrote. Another added, “Definitely, listen to your own uneducated conclusions, and not those of life long health professionals.”
And another explained, “Social distancing is key in fighting this virus and preventing the elders and those with a weak immune system. Children can carry the virus without any symptoms and transmit it to others. There is no business as usual with something as serious as this where the health of millions is threatened.”
But the 40-year-old stood her ground when confronted by fans.
“I am also immune compromised at the moment,” she wrote, after revealing that she was living with her father, who she says has stage 4 leukemia. “I have two young kids. Some people value their lives over freedom, some people value freedom over their lives. We all make our choices.”
She fired back at another commenter stating, “Where we are right now feels a lot too close to Marshall Law for my comfort already, all in the name of a respiratory flu."
In response to others, she hinted that she had bigger fears about leaders using “this moment to steal away more freedoms and grab more power."
And when one person wrote, “I think something is going on behind the scenes but that’s just me, every few years some disease come out quick then disappears as quick as it came.” Lilly agreed, noting, “There’s ‘something’ every election year.”
Lilly isn't the only star to face backlash this week.
Vanessa Hudgens was challenged by angry fans after she called the coronavirus shutdowns "bull----" and said people dying as a result of the virus is "inevitable" during an Instagram Live video Tuesday.
But not long after being called out for what many found to be callous remarks, she had a change of heart.
"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. "This has been a huge wake up call about the significance my words have, now more than ever."