Kelly Ripa has addressed the backlash over the comment her son Michael is living in “extreme poverty.” Twitter has thoughts on her remarks. Several users feel she is taking her “out of touch” privilege to another level.
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kelly talked about her oldest son Michael living on his own in Brooklyn. She explained to Jimmy that the 22-year-old is learning what it is like to not have the financial support of his parents.
Kelly Ripa claiming her son lives in extreme poverty pic.twitter.com/50dLM3vbZR
— Will Rogers (@Hocclevefanboy) October 24, 2019
Kelly referred to her son as being “chronically poor” and living in “extreme poverty” when describing the current chapter in Michael’s life. The talk show host explained that for the first time in his life, Michael cares about the $20 his grandparents send him every Halloween.
Her words had social media in an uproar. Twitter exploded with users bashing Kelly for not having a clue about the real world. She is the latest example of a rich famous person who is beyond being out of touch with reality.
Michael is by no means living in poverty. He is trying to make it on his own — like most young adults his age.
Struggling to make ends meet is common at the stage Michael is in life, which is the first apartment and job. However, at the end of the day, he always has his wealthy parents to help him out if needed.
I know some people who are seriously living in extreme poverty that would beg to differ. #KellyRipa https://t.co/Y0cgJKyALB
— Randomly Speaking Pod (@PodRandomly) October 23, 2019
The backlash, of course, caught the eye of Kelly, who chose to address the remarks with an interesting approach to the outrage.
“Michael goes to college and is a senior and works full time. He is in his first non-parent subsidized apt with roommates. I’m used to getting a lot of slack because people love to have fake outrage over something they didn’t see. They only read a headline and wag their tired fingers. I didn’t grow up privileged and neither Mark Consuelos. We work and we expect our kids to as well. And the fact that a pack of fools want to bitch about that, I say let em,” the Live With Kelly and Ryan host said.
The response was posted in the comments section of a photo of her and Michael after one user asked about the controversy.
@KellyRipa – Kudos on good parenting – enabling your kids to live on their own as they transition to adulthood. Beats the heck out of celebs who cripple their kids by overindulgence & robbing them the joy of accomplishment on their own efforts.?
— Hannah Claire (@stmaxk) October 24, 2019
The statement caused further division on Twitter. Some fans quickly rushed to her defense, while others dismissed her response.
Several users felt Kelly trying to defend her joke made her look even more out of touch. She essentially dismissed people’s judgments, which did not make too many social media users happy.
Other people on social media are standing by Kelly’s side. They agree her words were taken out of context and suggested she used a “poor choice” of words to describe Michael living on his own. It was nothing more than a misuse of words.
https://twitter.com/NatNiemi/status/1186998248252346369?s=20
The talk show host insists it was a joke and she was simply poking fun at her son as he learns how to “adult.” She further claims people are too quick to judge.
Is Kelly right or was her joke just not funny and wrong?