Earlier this month, Olivia Wilde posted a joke about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce to her Instagram stories and received immediate backlash from Swifties.
Now, the actor is clarifying that she "meant no harm" by the post.
Wilde had reshared a joke in reference to all the attention the "Traylor" romance has been receiving.
The joke, originally posted by Katja Herbers, read:
“I wish Taylor Swift was in love with a climate scientist.”
@oliviawilde/Instagram
Soon after, Swiftie outrage ensued.
A few people seemed to understand that Wilde meant climate change could use the platform.
@PopCrave Olivia Wilde is saying that if Taylor Swift was with the climate scientist, climate change would immediately become more popular and be more in the mainstream media. It's amazing how some people are unable to understand this.— UDontKnowBall (@UDontKnowBall) 1696630385
@PopCrave I'm no fan of Olivia Wilde, but the number of people who don't understand the tweet she posted is crazy. It wasn't a Taylor dis. She's saying that if Taylor can make people who didn't care about football suddenly care about football, imagine what she could do for climate change.— Andrew Ungvari (@Andrew Ungvari) 1696652841
Some fans warned Wilde to leave the couple alone, and joked about her failed romance with Harry Styles.
@PopCrave Stay out of it, Olivia.— GoldenAgeGeek (@GoldenAgeGeek) 1696683483
@PopCrave word Harry Styles was a real climate expert— Optimus Dime (@Optimus Dime) 1696632626
@PopCrave We wish Olivia Wilde was too and stayed away from men half her age!— Peaceful Piranha (@Peaceful Piranha) 1696630594
On Monday, Wilde responded to the backlash she received online, telling the Daily Mail:
“I meant no harm."
"It’s obviously a comment on how much attention gets paid to stupid things.”
Even after Wilde's clarification, though, people were still split.
Some Swifties were unwilling to forgive the comments made about the singer.
@PopBase You meant no harm but your comment says otherwise— Mr Mariton (@Mr Mariton) 1697503665
@PopBase Keep Taylor out of your irrelevant mouth go plants some trees— PHILLY\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@PHILLY\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1697503652
@PopBase I get her point but how she worded it and how she drag Tay tay? that's out of her business you know, it's wrong— naomi \u2728 (@naomi \u2728) 1697504410
@PopBase So why did she say it \ud83d\udc80\ud83d\udc80\ud83d\udc80— ladidai \ud83d\udce3 go to @heyhearusout (@ladidai \ud83d\udce3 go to @heyhearusout) 1697503699
But others agreed it was a harmless joke that was in no way intended to bash the couple.
@PopBase i don\u2019t think she was criticizing taylor. i think she was talking about how much attention people gave to taylor\u2019s dating life.— ultraviolence (@ultraviolence) 1697533727
@PopBase idk what's the fuss. olivia's comment was harmless— \u0245LFIE (@\u0245LFIE) 1697503884
@PopBase Although I absolutely adore Taylor- Travis, She is right entire world might have spoken about climate change by now— Nah\u00fdan (@Nah\u00fdan) 1697504466
@PopBase Don't tear Olivia down, she only wishes more attention to be given to climate change. Just expressed it abit differently, nothing negative about it though. Much luv y'all \ud83d\udc99— \u20bfubbz (@\u20bfubbz) 1697505256
While we understood the intent of the joke, we also understand that no one is safe from the wrath of Swifties.