Bette Midler and the Kardashians have had Twitter beef for awhile now, but a new jab has some calling her out for transphobia.
Midler asked on Saturday whether Caitlyn Jenner will go back to being Bruce now that her show, “I Am Cait,” has been cancelled, and remarry Kris in a since deleted tweet.
Midler tweeted out an apology on Sunday, calling it an “idle musing,” and adding that “I seem to have misread the temper of the times.”
DEAR FRIENDS @HRC, WHOM I HAVE ALWAYS SUPPORTED. SORRY LAST TWEET OFFENDED. AN IDLE MUSING. I SEEM TO HAVE MISREAD THE TEMPER OF THE TIMES.
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) August 21, 2016
Response to the tweet were mixed, but many are calling Midler out on crossing the line, and have reminder her that it is maybe not so funny to suggest that transgender identity is a phase. Especially at a time of increased violence and antitrans legislation.
@BetteMidler @IAmCait Yes, because being transgender is just a phase? What a vile tweet. Will you go back to being irrelevant?
— Josh Haigh (@joshcharles_21) August 21, 2016
@Danimay_Palmer @BetteMidler personally? Trans people are MURDERED on a daily basis. Perpetuating the myth it’s a choice is harmful.
— Josh Haigh (@joshcharles_21) August 21, 2016
@BetteMidler I love you Bette but this is horrible.
— roxane gay (@rgay) August 21, 2016
@rgay @BetteMidler I’m hoping some child assistant tweeted that out… ???
— Bflood28 (@Bflood28) August 21, 2016
@rgay seriously, WTF @BetteMidler?
— Jeff Stenehjem (@JeffStenehjem) August 21, 2016
@BetteMidler @IAmCait Why do you even think that is acceptable to say Bette? So rude and offensive toward a fellow Human. Shame on you.
— Toria (LesbiHonest) (@LuckyCharmed3) August 20, 2016
.@BetteMidler It doesn’t matter how you feel about her or her politics (yeah, that’s what this is about) her gender is hers.
— Her Majesty (@RoyalHoeliness) August 21, 2016
A trans person’s pronouns & gender aren’t contingent on you agreeing with their politics/opinions.
— Her Majesty (@RoyalHoeliness) August 21, 2016
@BetteMidler @IAmCait this is transphobic Bette
— reggie (@1942bs) August 20, 2016
.@BetteMidler Now that you’ve proven you’re no ally to LGBT people, will you do anything to regain trust? Take it back? Do I smell donation?
— Kylie Jack (@ixKylie) August 21, 2016
Tell us your reaction to Midler’s tweet in the comments below.
jdboston617
Doh! Ooops. Too soon, Bet, too soon. LOL.
But I still love you!!!
CaliKyle
Bette’s comment was perfectly legitimate. Jenner is a thoroughly heterosexual cross dressing fetishist not someone who felt like a girl trapped in a boy’s body and suffered a lifetime of dysphoria because of it.
jheryn
My transgender friend Liz said almost the same exact thing Bette did.
When I just texted her about Bette, she said in a series of texts,
“WTF? We can’t even make a f#&King joke any longer without offending someone.”
“Not every off color joke is made from a place of hate.”
“If anyone would be offended by a remark like that, it would be me, but I am smart enough to know a joke from a hateful comment.”
“People need to lighten the f#*k up.”
jbran
I agree with Liz, jheryn. The outrage from everyone all of the time is a little hard to take seriously.
MinnesotaNotNice
Good grief, people, I’m with Bette on this one. Just look at the photo of Brulyn Jenner, he truly looks like a straight guy who gets his jolly’s by dressing up as a woman. I’m still wishing for Brulyn Jenner to just go away…..far, far away.
Paco
Bette isn’t the only person to think that Caitlyn is only doing this for Kardashian fame. She’s the type of person that says what everyone else is thinking but too afraid to say themselves.
ted72
Not Transphobic. Just honest to goodness reality, no?
Love you Bette!
IDoNotHaveToAgreeWithYou
I’m going to go ahead and side with Bette. She’s right about old man Bruce. On top of hat she pissed off all the right people.
Xzamilio
I’m sorry, but that was funny. I could see how some would be offended by it, but Twitter is a place where you can find people offended by anything, which is why I don’t take it seriously.
Bob LaBlah
Its sad so many in the community are still blind regarding this “thing” that slowly and methodically tested the waters before “it” decided to put on that dress and make up. How could anyone be that stupid as to not question why did it take so long for him to come forward. He gets photographed by paparazzi wearing a thong, then panties and bra and no one questioned as to just how staged those photos were. It was as plain as day but no one questioned it and if you did so here on Queerty you comment would disappear immediately. You dummies who supported Bruce got the disappointment you asked for.
Bette, dont apologize for anything. You were on the money and don’t forget you are dealing with a community that overall refused to accept the obvious: they were being taken but refused to see it.
lencho
I wondered the same Bette. I agree with you Bob LaBlah, et al. It always seemed somewhat stuntish to me. It is the KarTrashians after all. I feel if someone truly feels trapped in the wrong body (especially when they can afford it), they go the distance, not just to the Macy’s cosmetic counter, and JCPenney’s Jr. Miss clothing department…
Chevelter
Nothing to apologize for, Bette. You’re terrific.
Bad Ass Biker
I am pleased to see the positive comments for Bette. If Bruce/Cait/whoever was really serious, why hasn’t he/she/it undergone surgery? Bruce/Cait or whoever may consider him/her self to be transgender, but has done nothing to support the GLBT community.
No
Dear God, what is it about bumpy chin hairs poking out through heavy foundation and a dainty string of pearls stretching around a thick footballer-esque neck that makes a whole community lose their sense of humor? It was a JOKE. Lighten the hell up. Humor is what has gotten us through our angst. And Bette has always led the way.
AJBray
I think a LOT depends where you are in the Alphabet Soup if you’re upset or not.
Personally, as the wife of a Transgender individual, I’m NOT pleased. I’m even LESS amused by the repulsive comments I’m reading from my fellow members of the LGBTQIPA community on here. “He”?! “Brulyn”?!? “IT”??? I’m so, SO glad my partner doesn’t subscribe to Queerty; transphobia from the straight, cis-het world is bad enough. From within our own “Family,” it explains why the suicide rate for the Trans Community is so staggeringly, depressingly high. ?
I may disagree with Caitlyn Jenner on…well…pretty much EVERYTHING, but I respect the fact that she’s a HUMAN. Perhaps a misguided one, an entitled one, one that will NEVER know what it’s like in the trenches for the other 99.9999999% of the LGBTQIPA world (especially not for the rest of the Trans* world, and the scrimping, struggling, and efforts to realize the dream she acquired in a single season of reality TV), but a PERSON, nonetheless.
“IT” doesn’t even give her that. How disgusting. ?
Tobi
@AJBray. It’s LGBTTIPQQ2SAF so do try to keep up unless you’re just another sodding exclusionist with an agenda.
AJBray
@Tobi You’re correct! Two-Spirited and Intersex individuals should NOT be excluded! Please forgive my omission. Also, I forgot the * and the ? (interrobang), which I hope comes out this time. The ?s were emojis, just to clarify for anyone with a screen-reader, or was confused. Apologies. 🙂
dwes09
What the heck is “LGBTQIPA”. I get that Q stands for Queer, but that is redundant, as Q IS Lesbian. Gay or Bi. Those who are heterosexual but desire to be included…too bad. Political support for social progress is fine, but that does not make you a member of a specific class of people any more than fighting against racism makes one black.
Tobi
@AJBray No probs. it’ll get a bit simpler once we Drop-the-T.
Bob LaBlah
People like AJ are how he stayed in business for as long as he did.
zipperzone
Bette has nothing to apologize for.
Her comment was both funny and probably close to the truth.
Caitlyn is in it mostly for the money just the same as the whole trashy clan.
They’re the only show in town that’s funnier than The Trump Circus.
inbama
The only thing wrong with Bette’s joke is just about everybody else in the country had already heard or said the same thing.
notcisjustmale
Bette got it right the first time.
“LGBTQIPA”. Give us a break.
sfhally
As someone once said–
“Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke”
Dave Downunder
I don’t get the outrage over Bette’s tweet when I have read media reports that Jenner now has regrets and is considering going back to being a Bruce. Obviously the topic is out there so it’s fair to expect people to comment on it.
TroisBoi
Love you Bette!!!! Amazing how all of the people in this world have suddenly become infallible and Christ-like.
Good Lord people she apologized get over it!!!
lucem.ferre
Seriously…LGBTQIPA??? Anyway, Bette was spot-on with her comment. The whole Jenner transgender thing smacks of a publicity stunt cooked up to get Jenner in the spotlight for a couple more sad years.
Hussain-TheCanadian
The Trans-phobic comments on this thread are quite nasty; we want love and understanding yet have no problem taking a piss on a trans-woman when she doesn’t agree with us politically.
Bette’s tweet wasn’t a joke, you can read the “apology tweet” and see that she “misread the reaction” – I don’t like Catlyn either, but attacking her very identity, her very person is cheap, and lumping it under “comedy” is no excuse.
dean089
When I initially read this Saturday I didn’t think of it as an insult to trans people but simply pointing out the ‘attention whore’ nature of the Jenner/Kardashian clan. Caitlyn might be living her truth but she’s been acting as if she is the first person to ever do so, and it’s ALL been televised for profit. Not the best way to make the point, but the point is still there.
MediaGuy
Let’s just cut off the “T” and move on. I don’t know why we tagged that on in the first place. And what’s with the whole “we love trans people” thing when that love ends when the tra nny is a conser vative. So what now, do we hate gay people too if they are conser vatives? Politicizing everything has gone too far, and hating a gay brother or a sister for their conser vative politics is way too far. It’s getting ugly in here.
Transiteer
F*ck it – it was funny … and Caituce supports Trump against us all,so ….
inbama
You cannot “drop the T.”
If you haven’t noticed, the “T” are running everything – gay organizations, women’s organizations, news organizations. This is why a lifelong ally like Bette Midler must grovel before the Transphobia Police..
The only thing gays and lesbians can do is get the hell out and start over with new organizations.
Unless, of course, you like having your humanity reduced to a letter and having sexual orientation thought of as seriously as people who identify as one sex on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and alternate, the opposite the rest of the time, and suffer such pain having to choose that they demand to be called “it” or “hen.”
In that case, enjoy the soup.
Bob LaBlah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcU5MUfYoag
JessPH
Well said, Bette.
Sam
Bette’s done far more for the LGBTQ community that this drunken REPUBLICAN idiot Jenner. Bette’s got nothing to apologize for–she’s a comedian, after all.
Blackout
The comment section is exactly what i expected from a bunch of annoying f@gs!
Brian
I support Bette Midler on this. Anyway, who are these irrelevant people on Twitter? They are nobodies. Nobody cares about their opinions about Bette Midler, and I am sure she could not care less.
Twitter is for twits. Oh, and did I forget to mention that Bruce Jenner is a twit too?
Tobi
@inbama I abandoned all hope when GLAAD announced to the media that homosexual was now a derogatory and offensive term.
NateOcean
Did Midler ever get an answer to her question?
In Jenner’s case I suspect the decision will be determined by “whichever reality TV show pays best”.