Today Ruby Rose did something out of character.
The Orange is the New Black star blasted Katy Perry in a tweet, which read like something out of a high school bully’s playbook.
Rose was responding to Perry releasing Swish Swish, the latest single from her upcoming album, Witness.
The Australian model wrote: “Purposeful poop” to “bomb a petit” to a sloppy mess of writing over the top of Funkagenda..stop trying to make ‘Wit..I mean “fetch” happen.”
“Purposeful poop” refers to the “Purposeful Pop” era Perry tried to start earlier in the year with the release of her single Chained to the Rhythm. “Bomb a petit” is a reference to Bon Appetit, Perry’s follow up single. When Rose refers to a “sloppy mess of writing over the top of Funkagenda” she’s talking directly about Swish Swish, Perry’s new single which opens with a famous sample of ‘what the f**k’, a track that has previously been used by Funkagenda and Fatboy Slim.
In that one little tweet Rose denounced Perry’s last three singles, before throwing shade at her entire album, all tied up with a neat little Mean Girls “fetch” reference.
So what did Perry do to Rose to deserve this? Nothing so far as an observer can tell – but she’s in a long-standing feud with Ruby’s friend Taylor Swift.
When Rose used cryptic code to eviscerate Perry, she did so in a very public manner.
It was basically the celebrity social media equivalent of: “You can’t sit here.”
It was unnecessary and, well, nasty.
Of course, Ruby Rose doesn’t have to be a fan of Katy Perry – and vice versa – but when you’re playing out this kind of public feud on social media, you’re creating an even more hostile environment for women.
The sisterhood is better than this.
But it doesn’t stop there. Ruby Rose has a huge online following and a lot of young, female fans – and this tweet does nothing but teach them that it’s OK to be openly nasty to another woman – as long as you have the supporters who will back you up.
It says that the Regina Georges and the Cheryl Blossoms of the world can get away with bullying because they do it with such sass.
This kind of tweet teaches girls – and women – that it’s OK to attack another woman if you don’t like their work. It says it’s fine to belittle her, to mock her, to degrade her.
The tweet makes it seem like professionally and personally bullying another woman is OK – and it’s not.
This woman is shutting down trolls by turning their words into cake. Post continues…
Of course Ruby Rose doesn’t have to love Katy Perry’s music – I don’t – but she does have a responsibility to think about the consequences of her actions.
It’s one thing to review someone’s work – it’s another to publicly humiliate them.
Ruby Rose didn’t have to publish that tweet, she could have used the opportunity to build another woman up.
Or she could have just remained quiet.
What do you think of Ruby Rose’s tweet?
Top Comments
Why do we always need to publicly, or privately, put down another person, be it male or female? Why can't we build each other up? Unless the person is so incredibly heinous in their actions, no one deserves such a mean spirited comment. Women, some, not all, especially seem to take great delight in constantly pulling down other women, be it for their clothes/look, their attitude, their views. And yes, I will admit I have been guilty of this on a few occasions, (The Kardashians are not my favourite people), but I think from now on I will take the higher ground and try and say one nice thing about someone everyday, regardless of who they are, or I will say nothing at all about them. I think it is time we built each other up, not tear down.
These comments may have been better left unsaid - it reflects badly on the person saying this. However, she is really just a mean girl here - unless this is repetitive behaviour on Ruby Rose's part, it is not bullying. Katy Perry is a big girl, she will cope with a mean girl.