In the entertainment world, success for women often comes with a catch behind it: almost immediate criticism, hate, and judgment. This bias is frequently seen in the media, where female stars who’ve worked hard to rise to the top are immediately brought down for illegitimate reasons. Young performers, including Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lawrence, Jennifer Lopez, Halle Bailey, and Jenna Ortega, have been criticized for a variety of insignificant reasons.
According to Leyla Mohammed of BuzzFeed News, Hathaway went from being extremely popular to someone who received significant online hate. Mohammed notes that “…people perceived her to be a ‘try-hard,’ aka too perfect and therefore clearly annoying.” She adds that the hashtag #HathaHate even became a thing at that time.
Mohammed also describes the hate Ortega faced as a complete 180-degree turn. She notes Ortega’s role as Wednesday Addams in the popular Netflix series, Wednesday and the criticism she faced: “Not long after, internet users got tired of her and began criticizing the same dark and moody energy that she initially became so loved for.”
As for why this occurs, Mohammed states, “That mistreatment has always been rooted in misogyny — and it has more recently translated into people hating on female celebrities for no apparent reason. In recent years, numerous famous women have been built up by the public, only to have their former fans later turn on them and celebrate their downfall.”
Even though many young women in entertainment have faced this issue and tried to fight back, it remains a major problem. One of the most recent examples of artists dealing with this problem is the rising global girl group KATSEYE. Debuting in June 2024, they quickly rose in the pop charts because people fell in love with the idea of a new, diverse girl group with unique personalities, undeniable chemistry, and catchy sound. The group was on people’s radar from the start, as it was formed through a 12-week reality show competition, in which six of the final ten contestants were selected through fan voting and judge evaluations to be in the group. Once created, KATSEYE got to work on their debut album and released their first single, “Debut,” on June 28, 2024. However, the criticism began almost immediately.
Criticism focused on their music at first, most notably when their song “GNARLY” was released eight to nine months after their debut album. People commented on how the song wasn’t to their musical taste, especially those who viewed it on YouTube and TikTok, who relentlessly bashed the six young women in the group. This quickly spiraled into significant hate online for superficial reasons. Negative comments focused on topics ranging from their appearance to their dancing to their singing. Some comments even seemed as if they intended to pit the members against each other.
After the initial excitement over the group’s creation on the show, much of what they have done seems to be looked at in a negative light, despite their youth and inexperience in the industry. This criticism has been very consistent and followed them into the new year. Following their February 4 The Tonight Show appearance, KATSEYE faced major online backlash for discussing inside jokes during the show that commenters on TikTok attacked. Comments such as “they don’t deserve to be on the show,” or “they’re being extremely disrespectful” were posted following their appearance. Another moment from the interview put on full display the challenges young artists – particularly young, female artists — face. In the interview, host Jimmy Fallon asked the group: “If you could ‘Freaky Friday’ swap with another member for 24 hours, who, why, and what’s the first thing you’re doing?” Daniela Avanzini replied that she would want to switch with Sophia Laforteza because she’s “good at lying.” While Fallon laughed this off and commented on the answer for being honest and hilarious, the other members, including Laforteza, seemed a bit shocked by her response and unsure of how to respond.
Avanzini’s comment wasn’t the most appropriate response to the question, especially on live television, so criticism was inevitable, but people took it too far. Online comments made assumptions that Avanzini dislikes her group members. Laforteza responded to the criticism on Weverse, a platform that allows celebrities to interact with fans, by stating that the comment was a lighthearted joke and that it’s normal for the members to joke around like that all the time. While it’s okay to criticize Avanzini’s comment as cruel or even immature, to go as far as to pit the members against each other and assume there’s a toxic environment within the group only causes harm.
Instead of allowing these young women to grow from their mistakes as they learn to work with the media and make more public appearances, the internet quickly turns to criticism and unprovoked attacks just as it has always done.
Other established stars such as Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have faced similar scrutiny recently because, it seems, posters to TikTok and YouTube don’t like how they act at times. During the press tour for the 2024 film Wicked, Grande and Erivo faced significant backlash for their close bond throughout several interviews. The two did a large number of appearances together to promote the film, and while their connection as performers was lauded in the production, that same closeness was criticized during appearances. For example, in Grande and Erivo’s interview with PinkNews, a platform that covers LGBTQ+ media, their closeness was on full display as they held hands, leaned towards each other, and often spoke over one another in excitement. Rather than celebrate the close friendship that the two stars seem to share, online reactions criticized the relationship between the co-stars and called it “performative,” noting that they were “trying too hard.” What was meant to be a heartfelt interview that displayed how much the actresses bonded with one another was turned into just another example of how women in entertainment are scrutinized for simply being themselves.
While criticism is inevitable when you work within the entertainment industry, female stars seem to be the ones who can’t escape it. Rising stars such as KATSEYE and established stars like Grande and Erivo are judged for the smallest things, while male stars face little to no judgment. Instead of putting women down through harmful comments online, it’s time for viewers to think before they post, and for platforms and sites to place better restrictions to prevent these comments from surfacing. Criticism is fine, but there’s no excuse for it to go as far as being sexist and cruel towards women in the industry.