Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton posted a video in which he appears to be shaming his 4-year-old nephew for wearing a princess dress that he got for Christmas.
The backlash was immediate, though some were divided as to whether this upsetting video was sincere or just a really bad idea of a joke.
Below, you"ll see the video — the nephew is adorable, for what it"s worth — and Lewis" apology.
Lewis Hamilton is a Formula One racer.
He"s handsome, in a bargain basement Elliot Knight sort of way. He"s British, he has piercings, and he"s reasonably famous.
There"ve been reports of Lewis Hamilton dating Kendall Jenner and he"s also been linked to Rihanna.
His life is a fantasy for most, so … why is he so sad in this video?
As you"ll see below, Lewis Hamilton records a Snapchat video.
To be fair, it"s not always easy to tell how sincere someone is being on social media, particularly in a very short video that seems to send some mixed messages.
But his words are troubling.
"“I’m so sad right now," Lewis says. "Look at my nephew."
And then he shows his four-year-old nephew, to whom he appears to be speaking.
"Why’re you wearing a princess dress?" Lewis demands.
"Is this what you got for Christmas?"
His nephew laughs and nods.
"Why did you ask for a princess dress for Christmas?"
This is when Lewis starts yelling, though since we can"t see his face, it"s difficult to tell what sort of yell it is.
"Boys don’t wear princess dresses!"
Whether Lewis Hamilton was sincere or not in his opinions, this video is troubling. Even if he was "play-yelling" with his nephew (he did spend part of the day playing with his nephew), his words were upsetting to a number of followers.
The backlash on social media was immediate and powerful, and Lewis deleted the video and issued a three-tweet apology.
"Yesterday I was playing around with my nephew and realized that my words were inappropriate so I removed the post. I meant no harm and did not mean to offend anyone at all. I love that my nephew feels free to express himself as we all should."
Even if you"re joking (and he doesn"t quite say that he was), some worried that his words could have had an impact on his nephew. 4 is a formative age.
"My deepest apologies for my behavior as I realize it is really not acceptable for anyone, no matter where you are from, to marginalize or stereotype anyone."
It"s important to remember that "boys don"t wear dresses" is probably very similar to the last words that some men and trans women have heard yelled at them before they died. So … it"s really not funny.
"I have always been in support of anyone living their life exactly how they wish and I hope I can be forgiven for this lapse in judgment."
Honestly, I"m inclined to believe that he made the video in jest and didn"t realize how people would perceive him. Not everybody"s good at humor, folks.
Dresses are cool, folks. They can be colorful, they move when you walk, and they"re immeasurably more comfortable than pants.
(Pants are nothing but leg prisons)
The instant that it becomes widely socially acceptable for men to wear skirts and dresses, plenty of men will rush to wear them because they"re great articles of clothing and it"s silly to restrict them by gender.
But we won"t get to that place as a society solely through the work of pioneers like Jaden Smith. Part of what will lead to a more accepting world is not saying things to children like what you"re about to hear in this video.
