Another batch of celebrities, including actor Kevin Bacon, are urging their fans and followers — including the spring breakers who flocked to the beaches in South Florida despite official orders — to practice social distancing and “stay at home” in the wake of the Chinese coronavirus.
“Hi folks. You know me, right? I’m technically only six degrees away from you,” the Footloose star said in a PSA. “Right now like people all around the world, I’m staying home because it saves lives and is the only way we’re going to slow down the spread of this coronavirus. Because the contact that you make with someone who makes contact with someone else, that may be what makes somebody’s mom or grandpa or wife sick.”
“Everyone one of us has someone who is worth staying home for. And I am staying home for Kyra Sedgwick,” he said, holding up a sign. He ultimately urged followers to post who they are staying home for, using the hashtag #IStayHomeFor.
“We can work together to stay home and keep each other safe and spread the word,” he added.
Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, posted another PSA of his own, this time from a jacuzzi.
“I just finished a bike ride and a little bit of work out and I just you know keep staying at home,” he said as he casually smoked a stogie.
He urged people, including the spring breakers who have flocked to Florida beaches in recent days, to stay away from crowds,
“All the kids going to the beach and celebrate and all that stuff, this is not a good idea,” The Terminator actor said. “So stay away from the crowds, go home, and then we can overcome this whole problem, this whole virus, in no time. But you got to go and follow those orders.”
“Just remember, stay at home,” he added.
Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey also put out a message of encouragement regarding the “faceless … sexless, non-denominational, and bipartisan” enemy that is the coronavirus. He said it will, hopefully, unify people across all political and cultural spectrums.
Other celebrities have chimed in as well.
“Now’s the time to really think about social distancing,” The Dark Tower star Idris Elba, who tested positive for the virus, said.
Max Brooks and his legendary father, actor-comedian-producer Mel Brooks, also put out a lighthearted PSA encouraging social-distancing. The video featured the elder Brooks nodding along to his son’s message while separated by glass. He jokingly told him to “go home” at the end of the video.
Child Disney Channel star Hillary Duff took a more blunt approach, telling “young millennial assholes that keep going out partying” to “go home.”
“Stop killing old people please,” she added.
Similarly, Grammy-winning singer and prolific donut-licker Ariana Grande blasted those in her generation who are not practicing social distancing, telling them that they sound both “stupid and privileged.”
“like your hip hop yoga class can fucking wait i promise,” she said.
Kim Kardashian recently made a plea to her 163 million followers on Instagram, telling her fans that her family is practicing social distancing as well.
“I was organizing my photos in my phone and found this and miss my sisters but we are all social distancing and staying away from each other all separately self quarantined. It’s hard but we have to do this for our safety and for everyone else’s,” she said. “PLEASE do not ignore the severity of the warnings to stay inside to stop the spread of this virus. We will all get through this! #TogetherApart”
The increased calls for social distancing follow reports of spring breakers partying it up on South Florida beaches — twerking, drinking, and wrestling — despite repeated warnings from officials.
One spring breaker, Brady Sluder, further demonstrated the generational divide.
“If I get corona, I get corona,” Sluder said. “At the end of the day, I’m not gonna let it stop me from partying. You know, I’ve been waiting, we’ve been waiting for Miami spring break for a while, about two months we’ve had this trip planned.”
Another spring breaker, Brianna Leeder, said the response to the coronavirus — the bar and beach closures and restrictions, specifically — were “really messing up with my spring break.”
“I think they’re blowing it way out of proportion,” she added.
While the bulk of celebrities seem to be taking social distancing seriously, some have not. Chanel model Kaia Gerber, for example, appeared to defy her vow to practice social distancing and was spotted hanging out with her celebrity friends in Los Angeles this week.
Actress Vanessa Hudgens also made waves this week after questioning the point of social distancing, calling the restrictions “bullshit” and adding “Like, yeah, people are going to die, which is terrible, but like, inevitable?”
She later apologized for her “insensitive” remarks.
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