‘Insult to working class’: Stephen King accused of sexism & classism after saying Kayleigh McEnany should become cocktail waitress
Iconic horror author Stephen King found himself at the center of controversy after he made a jab at Donald Trump's Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, in a tweet that seemed to look down on working-class waitresses.
After McEnany tweeted her farewell on Tuesday, the day before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, King – one of the wealthiest authors in the world with an estimated net worth of $500 million – responded, "Enjoy your next job as a cocktail waitress in Tampa."
Enjoy your next job as a cocktail waitress in Tampa. https://t.co/9chCgO0hK9
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 19, 2021
Though King's remark received over 40,000 likes, the author also received a long list of complaints from both Democrats and Republicans accusing him of sexism and classism.
Also on rt.com ‘Write books or shut up’: Stephen King takes heat after criticizing Trump’s Covid-19 response team for being ‘male, old & white’"Are you implying that there is something 'lowly' about being a cocktail waitress?"questioned one feminist user, receiving 4,000 likes, while broadcaster Jody Vance tweeted, "I was a damn good cocktail waitress. Please consider taking this derogatory post down. It's both belittling and sexist. I know you to be neither."
Is there something wrong with being a cocktail waitress? I don't get how this is some sort of insult? https://t.co/rk4UIrAzDI
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) January 19, 2021
Some gratuitous sexism from Stephen King, not to mention gratuitous mockery of women who waitress for a living. https://t.co/jJie3tivWU
— Jeff Jacoby (@Jeff_Jacoby) January 20, 2021
It’s hurtful and gross, as a working class writer, to see him slamming a working class position. Cocktail waitressing is a fine job and you deserve all the kudos for being in a hard industry. Classism sucks.
— 🏺ℌ𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔶 𝐕⚔️ (@henrytheeVth) January 19, 2021
Others branded King's post "sexist,""heartless," and "an insult to working class people," with one fan reacting, "Well f*ck me I have some books to rethink. Feels like losing another hero Mr King."
This isn't just sexist, it's asserting cocktail waitressesing is somehow the job of a lesser being. https://t.co/oP6Blo1VnE
— Krystle Baker (@TarheelKrystle) January 20, 2021
While National Review writer Kyle Smith pointed out that McEnany is a graduate of Harvard Law School, psephologist and left-wing writer Aidan Smith declared, "At a certain point we really need to discuss the fact that wealthy liberal celebrities – and, let's be honest, a ton of affluent liberals in general – see working a service job past a certain age is absolutely a moral failing worthy of mockery."
King has often portrayed himself as a supporter of the working class, and apparently even named his son Joseph Hillstrom King (better known by his pen name Joe Hill), after the early 20th century American labor activist and songwriter who was shot by a firing squad after a controversial trial.
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