All the Terrible Responses to Robin Williams' Death
LatestIn the wake of the death of Robin Williams, there has been an outpouring of grief, disbelief and just general feels about the loss of a man who was truly a national treasure. While the passing of any great figure is terrible, this tragedy has been compounded by the news that Williams committed suicide.
The majority of the responses to his death have been touching and restrained. Many celebrities have used Twitter to express their shock and sadness. Comedians Chris Rock and Louis C.K. posted some of the most succinct and poignant messages.
Meanwhile, other tributes to the man many of us grew up loving are circulating.
His death has also reignited a discussion about the mental health crisis in our nation, which, unfortunately yet unsurprisingly, tends to only occur when a tragedy has already taken place.
But of course, there’s always someone who decides to leave their decency and good sense at home and scrape the bottom of the barrel for a story or angle. There’s always someone talking out of their ass about a person they didn’t know or some hotshot television producer hoping to jack up their ratings on the back of a tragedy. And then there are just some insensitive, nosey people who forget that we’re talking about an actual human being who deserves respect.
ABC kicked off this tawdry parade with live aerial footage of Robin Williams’ home. They did eventually take the stream down and released a statement on their decision.
“When we realized there was no news value to the live stream, we took it down immediately. Our intention was not to be insensitive to his family, friends and fans, and for that we apologize.”
Notice that use of the word “when.” His family asked for privacy. There is nothing private about flying a helicopter over their property. I’m no ABC journalist, but I’m having a hard time brainstorming any news value they could have possibly gleaned from that footage.
Paramedics had been called to the scene hours before so they weren’t going to get a shot of the body being removed. Were they hoping their cameras would magically develop x-ray vision so they could see what exactly was going on inside? Someone perhaps didn’t get the memo that he didn’t die in a house fire? Did they expect his family to be wailing from the rooftops? There’s no justification.
Then Fox News host Shepard Smith decided that Robin Williams hadn’t been disrespected enough for the day. Smith told a story about Williams reading a book to one of his daughters and added: “one of the children he so loved. One of the children grieving tonight because their father killed himself in a fit of depression.”