Comedy actress Amy Schumer (Trainwreck, 2015) arguably overreacted to teenage YouTube film critic Jackson Murphy, who tweeted his triumph in spending the night with her. Schumer’s self-deprecating humor often involves her making fun of how awkward and promiscuous she is. Nevertheless, the powerful celebrity attacked the critic essentially for “slut-shaming” her—herself a self-identified slut.
In a now-deleted tweet, Murphy shared a photo with Schumer, bragging, “Spent the night with @amyschumer. Probably not the first guy to write that #CriticsChoiceAwards.”
Murphy’s 5,000 twitter followers may have had a laugh, but Amy Schumer definitely did not.
Schumer responded curtly: “I get it. Cause I’m a whore? Glad I took a photo with you. Hi to your dad.”
Image: Twitter Screenshot
In 2009, Schumer declared “OMG I’m such a slut!” On the very night when she posed for the photo with Jackson Murphy, she accepted a Best Actress in a Comedy award for her role in the Judd Apatow film Trainwreck, where she played a promiscuous woman in her thirties who moves from partner to partner because she has unrealistic expectations and is unwilling to settle down.
Last year, Schumer posed in a spread for GQ, scantily clad in a bed with Star Wars droids, even salaciously putting a lightsaber in her mouth. For years, she has specialized in what could be called smutty humor. But when it comes to a tweet from a 17-year-old boy, she can’t take a joke.
As National Review‘s Stephen Miller put it, “a powerful celebrity with nationwide name recognition (her distant cousin is future Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer) and upwards of 3 million Twitter followers, put a target on the back of 17-year-old who has 5,600 Twitter followers and a budding media career.”
Murphy apologized in short order, saying, “I truly apologize. Thought you’d like the joke. I should leave the comedy to you! Thanks for the photo. Glad you won last night!”
Nevertheless, news outlets praised Schumer as something like a feminist hero for shooting the boy down. MTV gushed, “Let Amy Schumer Remind You It’s Not Cool To Tweet Sexist Jokes.” The Huffington Post declared, “Amy Schumer Turns Sexist Tweet Into Teachable Moment.” BuzzFeed reported that “Amy Schumer Perfectly Shut Down A Film Critic For His Sexist Comment.”
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