Bella Hadid Criticized for Lamenting Lack of Stylist for Two Years During Pandemic
The last two years have been difficult for everyone as the ongoing pandemic changed the way we live our lives. Bella Hadid wants you to know she feels that pain, too.
Only, she didn't go about voicing it in the best way.
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, the model opened up about the challenge of going without a stylist in recent years.
"I haven’t had a stylist in a long time, maybe two years now," she told the publication. "I was in such a weird place mentally that it was really complicated for me to get out of the house and put an outfit together, especially with the anxiety of [paparazzi] being outside and all that."
She added that there was a process she went through to be able to stop worrying about other people's expectations of her sense of style.
"In the last year, it was really important for me to learn that even if people talk about my style or if they like it or if they don’t, it doesn’t matter, because it’s my style," she explained. "When I leave the house in the morning, what I think about is: Does this make me happy? Do I feel good in this and do I feel comfortable?"
It's unclear why exactly Hadid has not been working with a stylist in recent years, though it's very possible social distancing and other COVID safety precautions have been a factor.
However, users on social media were quick to point out that Hadid's comment was... perhaps a little tone-deaf considering the very real, sometimes life-or-death struggles other people have faced in the same time.
"God is out here really giving the toughest battles to the strongest soldiers," one user joked about the model;s not-so-relatable plight.
"Like Bella Hadid, I also have not had a stylist for the last two years ... I get it girl," another teased.
Others were more direct in their criticism: "Omg Bella [H]adid is so strong you guys," someone wrote. "People have been dieing [sic] and losing loved ones from covid-19 and unable to work due to covid-19 but Bella [H]adid had it so hard because she didn’t have her stylist..."
Others pointed out how difficult it is to try to relate to Hadid following the comment she made.
Check out some of the responses below:
While some on social media did not take Hadid's comment very well, it seems unlikely that she was being intentionally flippant. It's more likely that the stark difference between her reality and the reality of those who aren't rich and famous just didn't quite occur to her.
Hadid also opened up to the publication about the trend of posting photos of herself crying on Instagram, as well as her desire to be more honest about what goes on behind the glamour we often see on the app.
You can see an example of one of the raw photos if you scroll through the post below:
The model explained that she was going through "depressive episodes" and felt "excruciating and debilitating mental and physical pain." At first the photos were a way of expressing how she felt to her mom and doctor. But they evolved when she started posting them online.
"[When I posted them] it was to make sure that anybody that was feeling that way knew it was OK to feel that way. Even though on Instagram things look so beautiful, at the end of the day, we are all cut from the same cloth. I felt like it was just good for me to be able to speak my truth and at some point I wasn’t able to post nice pretty pictures anymore. I was over it."