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22 Cringey Things Celebrities Did At The Beginning Of The Pandemic That Are Wild To Look Back On Now

What a weird, wild, time.

It's that time of year again when everyone reminisces about the chaotic early days of the pandemic.

London double-decker bus beside a sign urging to maintain social distancing

Four years ago, the world was going into lockdown, and celebrities were doing the absolute most.

Don't go downtown.

— 𝕍 𝕒 𝕟 𝕖 𝕤 𝕤 𝕒 ℂ 𝕒 𝕣 𝕝 𝕥 𝕠 𝕟 (@VanessaCarlton) March 16, 2020
Twitter: @VanessaCarlton
^That was actually one of the few good celebrity tweets of the time.

My feed is full of people talking about those weird times, so let's do the same here...

1. Who could forget Vanessa Hudgens' infamous rant about "the disease?"

4 years ago, vanessa hudgens gave her thoughts on the pandemic pic.twitter.com/Zhv2Ix4kIE

— popculture (@notgwendalupe) March 17, 2024
Twitter: @notgwendalupe / Via instagram.com

She went off about "respecting the virus."

Vanessa said, "It's a virus. I get it. I respect it"

She hit us with the "yeah, people are gonna die" line.

Even if everybody gets it, like yeah, people are gonna die"

And then she called it all "terrible, but like, inevitable."

"Terrible, but like inevitable. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this right now haha"

2. Jared Leto tweeted about discovering the pandemic after completing a 12-day silent meditation retreat in the desert.

Wow. 12 days ago I began a silent meditation in the desert. We were totally isolated. No phone, no communication etc. We had no idea what was happening outside the facility.

— JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) March 17, 2020
Twitter: @JaredLeto

3. Sia posted this strange meme, which I'm still trying to decipher what it means to this day...

The word 'VIRUS' with the V I R crossed out leaving the word 'US'

Am I the virus?!?! Are you?! WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!

closeup of the image

4. There was THAT "Imagine" video:

From Amy Adams...

amy during the video

...to Natalie Portman...

natalie in the video

...to Mark Ruffalo.

mark laying down in the video

It's actually kind of iconic how all of these super-famous people participated.

zoe in the video

5. Madonna called the coronavirus the "great equalizer" from a bathtub sprinkled with rose petals.

madonna in her bathtub

6. Arnold Schwarzenegger thought the jacuzzi was a great place to give a speech about the importance of social distancing.

arnold smoking in his hot tub

7. Bette Midler tagged Kenmore and Maytag while saluting "housekeepers across the globe" as if everyone has maids.

I never knew my appliances as well as I’m starting to know them. So grateful to #Kenmore and #Maytag. This is no joke. I salute housekeepers around the globe, doing your best to keep your families well, safe and alive.

Twitter: @BetteMidler

8. Jennifer Lopez was posting videos from her mansion that looked exactly like the house from Parasite.

We can’t go out to any restaurants or anything but the service and entertainment here is pretty good...😊 #StaySafe

9. She also posted this selfie with a man seemingly screaming for help in the background.

"Save me!!!" - That man, most likely in distress, cried out for help.

Person poses for a selfie in a camo sports bra, showcasing their fitness, in a room with exercise equipment

10. Drake posted a photo of his basketball court with the caption "My life for the next however long," making it seem like we should feel bad for him?

.@Drake documents his quarantine experience for Instagram 🏀: “My life for the next however long”

@drake / Via Instagram: @drake

11. Celebrities also loved that whole clapping thing. Remember Priyanka Chopra clapping to her ginormous lawn?

priyanka chopra clapping on balcony

Twitter: @VlDEODUMP

12. Speaking of clapping, King Charles and Camilla shared an awkward video of themselves clapping, which may or may not have been the first time they had ever clapped in their lives.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

13. Billionaire David Geffen told us to be safe from his yacht in the Grenadines.

David tweeted, "Sunset last night...isolated in the Grenadines avoiding the virus. I'm hoping everybody is staying safe"

14. Jaime King made a video literally THANKING the coronavirus.

virus cells with the text thank you for shaking us and showing us

15. Dr. Oz described opening schools as "very appetizing" because it would "only" cost a 2 to 3% increase in deaths.

DR OZ: "Schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3%, in terms of total mortality. Any, you know, any life is a life lost, but ... that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider." 😳 pic.twitter.com/aifMeKTsIv

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 16, 2020
Fox/ Twitter: @atrupar

16. Way before there was a vaccine, MIA tweeted about choosing a "chip" over a "vaccine."

If I have to choose the vaccine or chip I'm gonna choose death - YALA

— M.I.A.Ⓜ️ (@MIAuniverse) March 25, 2020
Twitter: @MIAuniverse

17. Sam Smith took pictures of themselves crying, which is always kind of an awkward thing to do.

Sam Smith shares emotional snaps of 'quarantine meltdown' at £12m home https://t.co/RKaqDHAZ54

@samsmith / Via Instagram: @samsmith

18. At the beginning of the pandemic, celebrities shared fake videos of people around the world singing their songs from balconies. For example, Katy Perry thought Italian people were singing "Roar" from their balconies.

balconies in an apartment building for the tweeted news story

19. Madonna thought people in New York were singing her song "I Rise."

madonna tweeting the same fake story

20. Evangeline Lilly thought it was a good idea to brag about not social distancing.

Evangeline said, "Just dropped my kids off at gymnastics camp. They all washed their hands before going in. They are playing and laughing"

21. Kim Kardashian showed us how to social distance from across the table from her mother.

Social Distancing is the most important thing! Please take it seriously

Twitter: @KimKardashian

22. And lastly, Kim surprised her family with a trip to a private island after multiple health screenings so they could "pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time."

Twitter: @KimKardashian

How nice!

Twitter: @KimKardashian