Kate Beckinsale knows how to slay on the red carpet, but over the weekend, she proved that she can throw down in the comments, too. In a post she shared on Instagram, the actress called out the “constant” Instagram bullying that she faces while also taking a moment to thank fans for their love and support, which she insists outweighs all the negativity that gets flung her way.
In a lengthy caption that accompanied a clip from an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she explained that she was once complimented by a woman after the segment, which showed Beckinsale demonstrating a fake sneeze, went viral. The woman’s son has autism, she noted, and they both thought the clip was great. However, Beckinsale explained that not everyone agreed.
“So – those of you who have been following my stories the last couple of days have definitely had a little insight into the fairly constant fuckwittery and bullying that I can receive pretty regularly on this app,” she wrote.
“What I want to say is first of all, I have been overwhelmed by the number of supportive and incredible messages I have received from kind strangers that outnumber and outweigh the arseholes by two million percent.”
“The second is this, and the reason I feel social media has the possibility of being such a loving and positive force – a few years ago I went on @fallontonight and told this story about my fake sneeze .
I received a DM a week or so later (which sadly got lost ) from a woman who said her autistic 7 year old son had been entirely non verbal forever ,and then became obsessed with this sneezing clip, kept requesting it over and over, and then suddenly said the first word he has ever said in his life and the word was ‘Achoo,'” she continued before calling out the men that choose her posts to assert their masculinity and look bad in the process.
“May I thank all of you and most particularly that lady who I wish would message me again so I can thank her properly. She and you are why I stay on here and why I feel people are ultimately good and the chance to connect with strangers can be such an incredible gift.
Unless you are a farty twatty man who thinks women should stay in the kitchen or some other irritant in which case it’s a gift in the sense of a poo wrapped in some sweating cling film,” she continued. “Love you, you the good ones, you the achoo-ing ones xxx”
It’s not the first time that Beckinsale has opened up about her approach to social media. In 2019, she spoke to Women’s Health about how she wrestles with how anyone and everyone can comment on her posts and how people feel entitled to say whatever they want, regardless of how it can make her feel.
“If everyone’s shitting on you, it can make you kind of ugh for a minute — especially if there’s really nothing wrong,” she said. “If you’re strangling a squirrel or hurting someone, I get it, but living one’s life in a reasonably respectful manner shouldn’t invite anyone to get too excited. I’m not a social-media person, but it’s nice to have this little corner that’s my vibe.”