24-year-old fashion model Gigi Hadid started a controversy with her recent Instagram post. Hadid is being called out for disrespecting an entire country and being self-centered for the caption on her Instagram post.
Hadid recently went on a trip to Mykonos, Greece and took pictures on her disposable camera. In her post, that caused the outrage, the model, posed in front of a full-length mirror, in a black and white polka dot bikini, and an oversized blue shirt. She is seen holding her disposable camera in front of her face in the picture. She captioned this snap saying, “Mykonos film in. PS(A). Do not let Insta fool you. Got robbed. Never going back lol. Would not recommend it. Spend your money elsewhere.”
Her fans and critics found her caption very insensitive as she blamed the entire country and its people for the negative experience that was caused by an individual. A fan commented below her post, pointing out how she wrote off an entire island whose economy relies on tourism and encourage her millions of followers not to visit just because she got robbed.
Another comment had the Instagram user calling Gigi Hadid out as ridiculous. She mused that maybe it would help if people did not post their whole life on Instagram. Moreover, the user also pointed out how Hadid’s hometown, New York City, experienced robberies every few seconds and wondered if she would ask her followers never to visit New York too.
Similarly, another user compared the situation to recent United States mass shooting and the fact that Hadid did not then ask people to stop visiting the States. To most fans, the caption was super disrespectful. A user elaborated that just because she got robbed, it does not mean the whole economy should get destroyed.
Hadid has posted clarification to explain her experience and caption. She commented on her original post, to clarify to everyone how she had a right to her expertise and had been robbed at gunpoint along with other 30 houses that night. She apparently could not contact any law enforcement except through her local contacts, a privilege she shared she had not others did not and would not have in that same situation. She elaborated how there was no option of protection as the police stations were closed, and these kinds of crimes were not monitored or addressed. She questioned the security status of the residents there and pointed out that she specifically called out the island where the crime occurred and did not blame the entire country or its tourism industry.
Hadid defended her opinion in her concluding statement sharing how this kind of information is not shared with people when they go. Her ideas -were based on her experience and actual events and not a reflection of her likes and dislikes. She ended her comment by pointing out how she has worked very hard for the trip and to be robbed unpleasant, and she had her right to share the experience.