On a list of things Ms Andrews' most regrets, I imagine that her Instagram posts of March 7th rank pretty high. Her snap of a fellow gymgoer with a less than toned physique, said gymgoer's attire of inappropriate size and use of her phone while on the treadmill, and Diana's joke that she was probably ordering burgers for delivery.
The snap ranks up there with those surreptitious shots of arse cracks people take. Mild amusement, but you wouldn't want someone taking pictures of you without you knowing, would you? The joke about the burgers is so obvious, and not especially funny. Diana's Instagram has, understandably, been shut down, so I can't tell you how much hilarity among her followers those two fateful posts caused. What we do know is that when the posts were picked up by social media and soon after found their way into The Huffington Post, Diana was well on her way to becoming Public Enemy #1.
The story has made its way into the websites of publications as different as Men's Health and Good Housekeeping. It's found its way onto the radio. Even Fox News have run the story. It's gone way beyond the US and UK to every continent and many (if not every) of the world's major languages. If Diana got herself into a rocket and blasted off to Mars for a bit of peace, I get the feeling she'd be met there by Martians brandishing newspapers with her and her fellow gymgoer on the front. The news section of her website currently contains a statement from her firm of solicitors on her behalf. And when you are talking to the world through your solicitor, life is not good.
I am not going to defend Diana, but I do feel for her.
Ultimately, she brought this upon herself. She shouldn't have taken the picture, but she really shouldn't have shared it and joked about the burgers. However, the amount of online personal abuse she has received regarding her appearance (incidentally, from people who are saying how wrong it is wrong to abuse others online because of their appearance - the irony of this seems to be lost on them) has been enormous.
With all this hatred flying around, no one wants to be seen to have anything to do with her. I have no idea what's going on behind the media scenes, but the bodybuilding community has hardly rallied round. The UKBFF were quick to disown her. "Not a fully paid-up member" they were quoted as saying. Trainer Eddie Abew, who Diana has appeared with in a training video, was also quick to point out that neither he nor any of his team had anything to do with it. And every YouTube bodybuilding/fitness vlogger has been at pains to be seen to be condemning Diana in their latest offerings.
Even her apology was widely ridiculed.
So I imagine Diana is in quite a lonely place right now.
I wondered if I might find something positive about her online, you know, just to remind her there was a time before March 7th, and there will be a time when this has all blown over. And I find it I did! From Dutch website Bodybuildsters & Gespierde Vrouwen, where Diana was the subject of one of their picture tributes last March.
Beautiful looks and muscles from Great Britain! reads the translation. Diana Andrews competes in the Figure class, and as you can see, this is a gorgeous lady!
No comments:
Post a Comment