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Walking Dead actor Daniel Newman has posted a video on social media responding to accusations of “hypocrisy”. In the clip, the bisexual star shows off the (rather small) amount of flab on his belly, his wrinkles, and receding hairline, and says he loves himself despite having what some may view as imperfections.
Sending you all huge ❤️. #StopBodyShaming. Be Proud of yourself! This is me. #Diversity #BlacklivesMatter #GetTested #Loveyourself ❤️ pic.twitter.com/f1hTo9v2Td
— DanielNewmaη (@DanielNewman) September 6, 2020
He made the video after tweets went viral over the weekend accusing him of hypocrisy.
Here’s the brief background: Newman, 39, has been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. He has attended several rallies and used his platform to highlight black voices. On Friday, he told followers to look at their friendship groups and question whether they are diverse or not.
“If you have depth, your “clique” or “tribe” will almost never look like you. Don’t sweat it when your peers reject you. Close your eyes and look for people with the same goals and interests, not the same body type (skin, color, body type, ethnicity, gender, sexuality) #diversity,” he said.
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Therefore, when he posted a photo of himself at a party a few hours later, which appeared to be populated almost exclusively by hot, white, muscle dudes, Twitter had a field day.
just delete your account dude pic.twitter.com/301ynar3Z1
— tired 🤠 (@attemptingbutch) September 5, 2020
Besides raising issues around diversity and white privilege, other commentators took exception to the fact that the gathering was taking place during a pandemic. Despite Newman claiming everyone attending had “tested negative multiple times,” there was scant evidence from the photos posted of mask-wearing or social distancing.
Related: Daniel Newman speaks more openly than ever about his sexuality and the unique struggles bi men face
The event he attended took place near Tulum, on the coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Newman swiftly deleted all the photos he had uploaded to social media showing the party.
Instead, he posted his body positivity message to his Twitter and Instagram on Saturday night.
“I love my body,” he begins, demonstrating his belly and wrinkles. “I’m showing you this because we as a culture are dealing so much with body shaming, feeling insecure, and I just tripped up and all of the trolls are on me now. And I’m not doing anything with the trolls. I get it, you’re doing your job, you get paid to start drama and sell it to news outlets…
“But for the people out there that are really affected by this, I want to say two things,” he continues. “Love yourself … I meant it when I said about diversity and being yourself and having a friend group that’s diverse.
“And then I also own it, you know, my family’s half black, and Latin … and I own it that five hours after posting about diversity, a friend of mine invited me down to a birthday event … I had no idea what the crowd was going to be like. All tested negative. But they’re all fit. They’re all jocks, so I was laughing along too.
Related: Um, did Daniel Newman just slide into Brian Sims’ DMs?
“Then I posted a photo, you know, of a bunch of fit people. So, I got dragged for it,” the actor concedes.
“They were like, ‘Oh, that’s so diverse, blah-de-blah.’,” Newman says. “But look. I’m not talking to the trolls. I’m talking to you guys. I’m at the front of Black Lives Matter protests, I’m working for – volunteering – and it is so important that we love our bodies the way we are: Black, white, super white, albino, straight, gay.
“I’ve had bullies my entire life,” he continues. “Especially trying to do modeling and acting, telling me, ‘Oh, redheads are ugly, you’re never going to work, you’re too fat, you’re too skinny…” He shrugs: “I’m happy, and I want you guys to be happy with who you are and celebrate everyone’s diversity and equality. And I always stand for that. So sorry if you guys heard any drama, but, that’s it. I love you so much.”
The video was not enough to appease some.
He saw the crowd, saw that everyone looked like a grindr ad, and still posted a pic of it. His right to do so. But instead of apologizing to his fans and the brown “half” of his family, he makes this about loving your body.
— Notary Phillipse (@NotaryPhillipse) September 6, 2020
However, many others thanked him for talking about body positivity.
You don’t have an idea how much your video helped me. And at the time you show us you are as human as us, not a celebrity who is walking on the red carpet that make us feel different. Thank Daniel so much for being such a great person!!! Hugs from 🇦🇷👏👏🤗🤗😘😘
— Osky Ceballos😷 (@Oskyrosario2912) September 6, 2020
It’s also led to at least one (actually quite funny) parody, which has also gone viral.
i am sorry for my super diverse private island negative test pool party photo
i am learning and growing ❤️ pic.twitter.com/YPnP5vJjGL
— chase (@cfree94) September 6, 2020
Wicked Dickie
It’s “the brothas” for me.
quantum
i’m gonna go with his touching story of surviving anti-redheaded prejudice.
Erik
The real problem is his statement ““If you have depth, your “clique” or “tribe” will almost never look like you. ” It is total bullshit. The physical appearance of your circle of friends does not determine your character.
Chrisk
People selling it to the media? Someone’s got an inflated ego.
Thad
We’re each going to read into this what we see. And you know there will be all kinds of reactions. The interesting thing is. none of them are really right or wrong, because we can’t help but see from our own perspectives.
Dev
He’s SO brave.
covert
I can angle my body and camera at an unflattering angle to make myself look “thicc” too… Anyway, this guy needs to check his privilege and own up to his BS.
-Tulum is not a “private island”
-his “clique” is overwhelming fit, WHITE or white-passing, and cis men
-he uses the lame ass excuse that all his “brothas” and POC friends “were at work” (which also implies his and his friends’ privilege)
-he wanted to post thirsty party content for his social media and is now doing damage control and deflecting his hypocrisy.
Just to name a few points… what a phony.
ShowMeGuy
Typically, I ignore your comments because they are full of shit. Today, I will not.
– Well, for starters, the term PRIVATE describes the party not the island or the pool.
– How black do Black friends have to look to pass your “Black Test” so they count as Black and not “white-passing”? ….. your words = “white-passing” used like a racist.
– Unless you have x-ray vision it would be impossible to identify the *cis* or *trans* status of any person in that photograph, so your assumptions say more about you than anything you could say about Daniel.
– For you to tell him to *check his privilege* is hysterical. He is a famous actor from a tv series, so in the middle of a pandemic, he has some free-time to party at a pool. It seems rather racist of you to believe that his Black friends should be sitting around NOT WORKING; you know because they are Black, so they are free to also attend a pool party. People work….. even Black people, because Black people are…. people.
– You did get one thing correct. Daniel wanted to post some thirsty content to social media because that is something that people do with their social media.
The only mistake Daniel made was apologizing to the negative norwoods who decided that Daniel committed some sin.
Just to name a few points.
covert
@showmeguy
-He said “private island” on his post. Not private party
-perhaps you should educate yourself on Colorism. White-passing is a privilege and a huge part of that.
-I don’t have XRay vision, but I have social media. The boys in that photo/sharing pictures and videos from that party are the all cis, binary, and non-trans.
-he says that *ALL* his black, poc, and female friends couldn’t make it because they had to work? Thats obviously bull. But let’s entertain the idea that maybe it was true… To me that implies that they either couldn’t afford to take the time off or weren’t afforded the opportunity and PRIVILEGE to take time off, unlike their white male friends.
-He shouldn’t have apologized because he’s done a crap job so far deflecting the issue to be about “bullying” and “body positivity”
Kangol2
Why did he have to post that woke statement? I mean, if you truly believe what you’re writing and lecturing other people on, LIVE it yourself. Save the performative crap for a play or a humorous TikTok. It is not that hard to have friends of diverse races, ethnicities, genders, reilgions, etc. if you want to and are open to other people.
That said, I don’t care who he’s palling around with or sleeping with. It’s his business. Not sure why he regularly gets coverage on here anyway, but maybe this will consign him to the ignore-from-no-on list. The best thing about this entire article was Chase’s comical Instagram video at the end.
dave1000
He should have simply not responded to it. That’s the best way to handle cancel culture BS.
t
He’s being railed for appearing with a party of hot white guys? He already stated he supports diversity so why is it that you “holier than thou” queens think he is being a hypocrite? Should he shun the hot white guys because he says he supports diversity and body positivity? Isn’t that the definition of discrimination since you’re so offended that he hangs out with hot chiseled white guys? Asking him to not appear or associate with the hotness is the very definition of hypocrisy so for all of your bitchy pious queens: find something else to fuel your hatred toward those unlike you and get your own houses in order before you pass judgement onto someone else.
barkomatic
@t. The only reason he’s being criticized for attending a party with all white guys is because he also posted a message prior to that saying everyone should have an ethnically diverse group of friends. It came off as slightly judgmental.
If he had either: not made that initial post about friendship groups or not posted the picture of him at the party no one would have noticed — but the two together seem to suggest he’s not sincere.
However, maybe the guys at the party aren’t his normal crew and he didn’t realize the juxtaposition of his posts.
dhmonarch89
Why don’t we all just kill ourselves already!?
skeldare
Non story
ShowMeGuy
I’m sure every “holier-than-he” responds to a pool party invite by inquiring if the crowd will be of *mixed* demographics before they confirm their RSVP.
pavel20
ugh, do we really have nothing more important to deal with than who this guy parties with?
trevish
Wow this guy is such a joke. I really don’t care if he parties with the Aaron Schock type crowd. Like who cares tbh. Just don’t preach about diversity and allyship only to then contradict yourself and then play the victim.
Cam
That post seems to be the go to pose for celebs who want to claim that they’re not perfect. Jamie Lee Curtis did that a while ago, that same hip pop and then pinching the tiny it of loose skin.
Smith David
Look, I’m a chub. Good, bad or in different, I appreciate the positive message he’s putting out in the world. And as an African-American, I’ve seen much violence and hate in the last 6 months to last a lifetime. I’m tired. Most black people I know are tired. I’m just tired. I just want us to love again. Love.
Wentz
I’m gonna end my friendship with all my white gay friends…and only talk to black guys from now on. I’m gonna be so WOKE guys!!!
eireapparent
How does one find the stamina to be this put out by so many non-issues?
sfhairy
Ugh, why are we still talking about him?