Getty Images Marina Sirtis attends the "Star Trek: Picard" premiere
Earlier this week, Marina Sirtis, who played Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation, tweeted her thoughts about the crisis in Texas. In that tweet, she suggested that if Texans had voted for Democratic representatives rather than Republican ones, they wouldn’t be suffering as much as they currently are.
The tweet elicited a deluge of negative responses from other celebs, her fans, and especially Texans. Here’s how it all played out.
The Tweet That Started it All
In the days after Texas’ historic winter storm, social media feeds filled with stories of the terrible things Texans were dealing with, including massive power outages that left them without heat during some of the coldest days the state has ever seen.
Sirtis spent much of February 18th retweeting and responding to tweets about Texas senator Ted Cruz, who decided to fly to Cancun amidst the crisis. She also responded to some tweets from fans about how they were dealing with the crisis. A few of her tweets earlier in the day were critical of the Republican Party and how they were responding to the situation.
In the early evening, Sirtis posted the above tweet. The backlash was quick. Within minutes, she was responding to tweets criticizing her statement.
In her follow-up tweets, Sirtis defended her assertion that a Democratic state government would be handling the situation better than the Republicans currently in charge.
She also responded to several people who tried to point out that a large portion of Texas voters did vote for Democrats. Sirtis took the stance that the voter turnout in state elections was to blame for the lack of Democratic representation. In the replies, several people brought up Texas’ issues with voter suppression and stated that her take on the issue completely ignored the myriad problems Texans faced when they try to vote.
Celebs and Fans Call Out Sirtis
Thousands of people replied to Sirtis’s tweet, letting her know how upset they were by her comments. Gennifer Hutchison, one of the lead writers for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul suggested that Sirtis should help rather than criticize.
@Marina_Sirtis “I’m sad that you’re suffering so badly, but you deserved it.” You’re so nice! Also looking forward to you saying the same thing about CA when they go through their yearly blackouts 👍🏼
Author and host of the popular podcast Relatable, Allie Beth Stuckey, mocked Sirtis for implying that Texans deserved to suffer because of how they voted.
Thousands of Star Trek fans also left comments in the replies. Many let Sirtis know how disappointed they were with her statement and asked for an apology. Several fans pointed out the irony in Sirtis’ lack of empathy given that she portrayed an empathic being on Star Trek. Other people replied with news stories about the horrific things Texans were dealing with, asserting that no one “deserved” these circumstances.
Of the thousands of replies to the original tweet, very few expressed agreement with Sirtis’ stance.
Sirtis Pushes Back Then Disappears
In the last tweet that Sirtis posted herself on the 18th, she clarified her original tweet. Just over a thousand people replied to that tweet, with most of them rejecting her clarification. They asserted that the implication of her tweet was more important than what she actually said. A few fans insisted that she meant no harm. However, they were the minority.
Sirtis retweeted one reply after her last tweet. Since then, she hasn’t posted anything to her Twitter account.
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