Evangeline Lilly wants to offer her “sincere and heartfelt” apology for the “insensitive” comments she made last week.
ICYMI, last week, while most of us have been staying home and social distancing, The Ant-Man and The Wasp star revealed that she and her family were still “#businessasusual” at the time, with her kids going off to gymnastics camp. She later also shared with that she’s living with her father, who has stage 4 leukemia, that she herself is also immune-compromised.
Her comments sparked a lot of backlash online, with fans criticizing her for not quarantining themselves amid the growing Coronavirus concerns.
“Some people value their lives over freedom, some people value freedom over their lives. We all make our choices,” she responded to a fan’s comment.
Soon after, Sophie Turner went on Instagram Story and seemingly addressed her post in a video.
“Stay inside, don’t be f–king stupid. Even if you count your ‘freedom’ over your health. I don’t give a f–k about your ‘freedom,’ you could be infecting other people, other vulnerable people around you. So stay inside guys. It’s not cool, and it’s not clever. And that’s the tea,” she said in a video posted on Instagram Stories.
A few days later, her Lost co-star, Daniel Dae Kim, revealed that he tested positive for Coronavirus.
On Thursday (March 26), Evangeline went on Instagram to apologize for any hurt her previous message may have caused, and shared that she is now social distancing and doing her part to flatten the curve.
She explained that it wasn’t until a few days after her initial post that social distancing measures were instituted in the place where she lived, but that she’d been following directives from the authorities even before then.
“I am writing you from my home where I have been social distancing since Mar 18th – when social distancing was instituted in the small community where I am currently living,” she wrote. “At the time of my Mar 16th post, the directives from the authorities here were that we not congregate in groups of more than 250ppl and that we wash our hands regularly, which we were doing.”
“Two days later, those directives changed and, despite my intense trepidation over the socioeconomic and political repercussions of this course of action, PLEASE KNOW I AM DOING MY PART TO FLATTEN THE CURVE, PRACTICING SOCIAL DISTANCING AND STAYING HOME WITH MY FAMILY,” she continued.
“I want to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology for the insensitivity I showed in my previous post to the very real suffering and fear that has gripped the world through COVID19,” Evangeline expressed. “Grandparents, parents, children, sisters and brothers are dying, the world is rallying to find a way to stop this very real threat, and my ensuing silence has sent a dismissive, arrogant and cryptic message.
My direct and special apologies to those most affected by this pandemic. I never meant to hurt you.”
“When I wrote that post 10 days ago, I thought I was infusing calm into the hysteria. I can see now that I was projecting my own fears into an already fearful and traumatic situation,” she explained. “I am grieved by the ongoing loss of life, and the impossible decisions medical workers around the world must make as they treat those affected. I am concerned for our communities – small businesses and families living paycheck-to-paycheck – and I am trying to follow responsible recommendations for how to help.”
“Like many of you, I fear for the political aftermath of this pandemic, and I am praying for us all,” she added. “At the same time, I am heartened by the beauty and humanity I see so many people demonstrating toward one another in this vulnerable time. When I was grappling with my own fears over social distancing, one kind, wise and gracious person said to me “do it out of love, not fear” and it helped me to realize my place in all of this.”
“Sending love to all of you, even if you can’t return it right now,” she concluded her message.
