Culture

Vanessa Hudgens Went On A Heartless Rant About COVID-19, And Now It’s A Lip-Sync Challenge

"It's a virus, I get it, like, I respect it, but at the same time...people are going to die, which is terrible but like, inevitable?"

Vanessa Hudgens makes insensitive COVID-19 comments, people lipsync to them in challenge

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You’ve probably got some spare time at the moment: may we recommend the Vanessa Hudgens Challenge, which asks you to lip-sync to the actress’ tone-deaf rant about COVID-19 ruining her summer plans?

On Wednesday Vanessa Hudgens vented about social distancing on Instagram live, seemingly frustrated that Coachella — a festival invented for her — has been postponed. Her flippant comments are pretty awful, as she essentially says that it’s all ‘bullshit’ since people are ‘inevitably’ going to die anyway, so she should be allowed to have fun.

“Umm, yeah, ’til July sounds like a bunch of bullshit,” she said, reacting to US estimates of social distancing.

“I’m sorry, but like, it’s a virus, I get it, like, I respect it, but at the same time I’m like, even if everybody gets it, like yeah, people are going to die, which is terrible but like, inevitable?”

You can watch the video below.

After Hudgens was criticised for being heartless and selfish, she took to Twitter to apologise, saying it was a “huge wake up call about the significance my words have”.

Without piling on her too much (hopefully she takes a step back and understands why people were so angry), the reactions online were, of course, sublime.

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I can’t stop making memes :(

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And while it’s early days, a think of great beauty is emerging across TikTok and Instagram, as people either record their own takes on her rant or try to lip-sync.

The key to a great performance seems to be nailing the line “I get it, like I respect it” and adding your own flourish to Hudgens’ voice-tilt.

To be completely honest, the ‘challenge’ only has a handful of people at this point, but it deserves to be much, much bigger. Please enjoy below, and join in?

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Team Vanessa #vanessahudgens

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Honestly, I respect it.

Meanwhile, Hudgens’ fellow High School Musical alum Ashley Tisdale did a TikTok dance of ‘We’re All In This Together’ while Hudgens joined in on a ‘duet’ to drink wine. Some real Sliding Doors energy between the two of them.