From time to time, we get caught up in a juicy celebrity feud. Perhaps it stems from some good old fashioned schadenfreude and the reassurance that even the most prolific and seemingly “hashtag blessed” folk are not immune to the daily grievances of interacting with other humans.
Perhaps we like to know that, like us, stars can be petty and get swept up in truly inconsequential things or maybe, especially this year, we are just plain nosey and bored. Regardless whether it’s Katy Perry vs Taylor Swift or Liam vs Noel Gallagher, people seem to love a good celeb showdown.
Now, you may ask yourself: in a world rife with suffering and inequality, should public figures keep their petty quarrels to themselves? Or does the airing of their dirty laundry provide some much-needed respite from a relentless doom and gloom news cycle?
In the age of social media, over-sharing and the desire for “full transparency” one could argue that expecting celebrities to keep their gripes on the down-low is like expecting Donald Trump to say something mature and rational. It just ain’t gonna happen.
And so, this week we were treated to the squabble between former Carlton AFL player Dale Thomas and former Bachelorette star Georgia Love playing out on Twitter. Thomas got his just desserts more than a year after Love blew the whistle on him drinking prior to a big game — which his team lost, incidentally.
Thomas was benched by the Blues leadership group after being busted for boozing at a charity function, two days before their game against St Kilda in May 2019. The former I’m a Celeb contestant claimed he had only “had a few” but Love suggested otherwise, taking to Twitter to write: “I was there and saw him. There’s no way he’d only had 3 drinks.” Ooft.
Thomas apologised and missed one game and that probably should have been the end of it, but apparently, the footy player took the adage that “snitches get stitches” very much to heart. And so, much like Mr Burns pressing his fingertips together and vowing to “bide his time” against one of his many nemeses, Thomas waited for his chance at revenge.
The athlete finally got the opportunity to exact a “sick burn” on his prey when Love had the audacity to — clutch your pearls and gasp in horror — announce that she had purchased her first home with her fiancé Lee Elliot.
“Because launching two businesses and planning two weddings during a global pandemic wasn’t stressful, interesting or financially draining enough, we thought, ’why not buy a house too?’,” the TV presenter wrote on Tuesday, December 22.
Apparently, this was deeply offensive to some people for reasons I can’t quite fathom and Love was immediately met with the cold hard slap of social media critics with too much time on their hands.
“Current situation: being trolled because I tried to celebrate buying a house. That’s enough internet for today,” Love subsequently lamented.
It was, evidently, the moment Thomas had been waiting 18 months for. Here was his chance and, like Eminem, he knew he only had one shot.
Ye being trolled for having a good time and enjoying your own life sucks aye! Atleast mine was for charity!! https://t.co/PMYLzz0etd
— Dale Thomas (@DThomas_39) December 22, 2020
“Being trolled for having a good time and enjoying your own life sucks aye! At least mine was for charity!!”, he wrote, victory at last his. Thomas was then triumphantly — albeit metaphorically — carried out on the shoulders of his followers in the form of likes and retweets.
Former basketball star Andrew Bogut even called it “A grade tweeting” which I am sure is tantamount to a goal or score or try or some other sporting term that is positive.
As for Love, she decided that it was game, set and match and threw in the towel.
“Being trolled for calling out that I was being trolled is really the epitome of 2020, hey,” she wrote. “You can respond and call me all the names and tell me to die all you like, I’m out for the year. Merry Christmas guys.”
And so, as the sun sets on yet another spat between two sort-of celebs, we are free to resume our lives; having learnt nothing nor grown as people, no doubt eagerly awaiting the next one.