We talked yesterday about how celebrities need to learn to s**t up, and Stephen Amell is certainly one of those celebrities. But Amell proved how much he was really one of the privileged and don’t even care who knows it crowd yesterday, when after sticking his foot in his mouth during a convention and declaring himself anti-strike, right when the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, a union he is part of, are on strike, he both doubled-down and somehow tried to “add context” to his comments.
And look, if you need a lengthy statement that basically reads: this is what I said, but this is what I meant, followed by a lengthy paragraph, to the point that you have to continue on in the Instagram comments, then my dude, you need to start thinking about the things you’re saying. Let’s start there. But of course, Amell has never cared about what he says. He’s always had the Arrowverse fans and he’s believed that would be enough, no matter what he says or does, because once, over a decade ago, he was super hot on a TV show and played a character some loved because he was a comic book adaptation, and others loved because they fell in love with a ship.
Newsflash, Mr. Amell, it’s not.
Secondly, it’s not even that this is disrespectful to the WGA — which has been on strike since May 1st, and SAG-AFTRA, which has been on strike since July 13, which are fighting not just for the future of the industry, but truly, for what creative work looks like going forward, it’s that Mr. Amell thought he could just… say the things without any backlash, just because he’s upset he can’t promote Heels Season 2.
(Which he actually has been doing, in now-deleted posts)
The privilege is strong with this one. But hey, just as we have taken notice, so have a lot of writers and producers. And since Mr. Amell will, presumably, want more work as an actor in the future, and people to watch said work and continue to pay to see him in conventions, that’s probably why he’s now trying (in his own very inept way, might I add) to walk back his original ignorant comments.
But hopefully, the internet doesn’t forget this one and it adds it to the list of things he has said and done that give us a very clear picture of who he is.
