Debra Messing Takes On Mom-Shaming and Online Bullying: ‘I Was Naive When I First Started Giving My Political Opinions’
Debra Messing speaks her mind. (Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
Debra Messing is passionate, no doubt about that. Just look at her Twitter page, and you’ll see that she’s not afraid to speak out in support of Hillary Clinton or comment on the state of the world.
We spoke with The Mysteries of Laura actress on Tuesday and were curious to get her thoughts on the Kristin Cavallari story that made entertainment headlines this week. For those not in the know, critics have been slamming The Hills alum, body-shaming her kids, and calling them too skinny.
“To be honest, I’m not aware of what’s going on with her … but in my opinion, people’s children are off limits,” she told Yahoo Celebrity. “Nobody, nobody should make any comments or discuss in any way someone’s children.”
Messing, 47, continued, “You know, I’m a public person and if I put myself out on a platform like Twitter, I’m basically saying you’re allowed to express your opinion about me or my position politically, socially, whatever, but that does not extend to children. If she’s experiencing [shaming], then I support her.”
Chrissy Teigen, who has experienced mom-shaming herself, has also expressed her support of Cavallari.
“It’s pathetic,” Messing said of the mom-shaming problem today. “Anybody who has an opinion has the ability to become a bully if they choose to be, and I just have no patience for bullies.”
While Messing, who has a 12-year-old son named Roman, says she doesn’t experience too much backlash of that nature, she certainly feels the heat online when it comes to politics (just ask Susan Sarandon).
“Yeah, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t affected,” she told us of online bullying over her views on politics. “I was naive when I first started giving my political opinions that so many people would respond. Now in retrospect, it makes sense because our country is in a precarious time right now. We’re all invested in our country to be safer and better. When it got to me was when I felt like people were not hearing me or really reading what I was saying. That’s when I would get frustrated because I can express my opinion, and you can do the same. But when it becomes a verbal assault, that’s when I think you cross a line.”
Messing, a loyal Hillary supporter, and Sarandon, a fierce Bernie Sanders supporter, tussled in the media a few months ago over the presidential election. Now that Hillary and Bernie have made peace, have the two actresses spoken?
“We’ve never communicated,” Messing revealed. “I am just grateful that her candidate has said that he is going to vote for Hillary and [support] her. … I think we’ve made great headway and great progress, and I’m hoping that all Bernie supporters, including Ms. Sarandon, will follow in his footsteps. If they have supported him before, then I hope they will support him now.”
Debra (with Sophia Bush) is with Hillary. (Photo: Instagram)
Messing will be at the Democratic National Convention with Clinton later this month in Philadelphia.
“I’m really, really excited,” she exclaimed. “I’ve never been, and to go with a candidate I really believe in… this is really special. I told them I am available to support her campaign in any way that I can, and I will travel on her behalf as well.”
Messing’s also excited about her role in ABC’s upcoming Dirty Dancing revival, in which she portray’s Baby’s mother, Marjorie Houseman.
“Dirty Dancing was a ball,” she shared. “It’s such a happy movie, everybody has a really positive association with it. The dancing, music, costumes… it was exciting and scary, and I think it’s going to be really, really great and I cannot wait for it to come out.”
Neither can we.
