Whitney Cummings and Rachel Griffin-Accurso, otherwise known as Ms. Rachel, have very different careers. Likewise, their consumer bases are also separate. Meaning, Whitney’s work caters to adults, while Ms. Rachel’s target audiences are children. So, if these two women are not competitors in their fields, then why on earth are they trending together? Simply put, the fault here lies with Whitney.
Whitney made an unnecessary dig about Ms. Rachel’s work persona. Immediately after, Ms. Rachel’s community stood up and swiftly corrected Whitney’s words. This massive community made a glaringly obvious point that Whitney says she was unaware of. So, after taking some time to think about their words and what she had just “stepped into,” Whitney issued an apology to Ms. Rachel and her fans.
Regardless, many people can’t move past this incident. So, what happened here? Here’s a breakdown.
How did Whitney Cummings and Ms. Rachel’s worlds collide?
Whitney is a California-based stand-up comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. She is best known for her former NBC sitcom, aptly called Whitney, and for her work as a co-creator on the CBS series, 2 Broke Girls. In general, Whitney seemingly looks at life through a comedic lens, but sometimes misses her mark.
Meanwhile, Ms. Rachel is a children’s educator and content creator, best known for her “Songs for Littles” YouTube channel. Her videos are specifically designed to help early learners with speech and developmental delays. 18.7 million people subscribe to her channel.
Additionally, Ms. Rachel is also a major advocate for the displaced children in Gaza. However, Ms. Rachel recently made a common mistake. To explain, Ms. Rachel often deletes harmful rhetoric and toxic language from her comments. But when she went to delete an antisemitic one, she ended up accidentally liking it instead.
In a new post, Ms. Rachel immediately apologized for her error, admitting that she needs to move more slowly. “I made mistakes and misunderstood because I’m human,” she noted. But most importantly, as Ms. Rachel underscored in a separate post, she is “against all forms of hate, including antisemitism against the Jewish people.”
Whitney recently made a snap judgment about Ms. Rachel‘s YouTube persona, which had nothing to do with Ms. Rachel’s accidental like. And this is when their worlds collided.
What did Whitney say about Ms. Rachel?
After watching one of Ms. Rachel’s lessons with her two-year-old son, Henry, Whitney had some thoughts. So, she went on Threads to share her opinions with her followers. But once the backlash started, she quickly deleted her post. Even still, the internet lives forever, as evidenced by several screenshotted reposts, including the one featuring Threads user @HippieChic82.
As Whitney penned, “Miss Rachel is always off base, dude – why does she talk to kids like they’re deaf morons? Also, if you need to dress like a toddler to trick them into liking you, that’s information to give to a mental health professional.”
Naturally, Ms. Rachel’s followers weren’t pleased, so they clocked in, letting Whitney know that Ms. Rachel moves in well-thought-out ways. She’s not tricking anyone here; instead, Ms. Rachel is simply using best practices to properly connect with all types of learners, including those who are neurodivergent.
But as @HippieChic82 wondered, was Whitney even being serious with her quip? Or was her comment simply a poor attempt at comedy? And listen, Whitney is no stranger to controversy; after defending her performance at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, as well as a history of sharing transphobic jokes … To answer this, let’s take a look at what Whitney explained in her apology for this particular gaff.
Whitney apologized over her Ms. Rachel comments
“Regarding a video I made about Ms. Rachel,” Whitney began, “I’m just gonna own it. I did not know that she was specifically for neurodivergent children,” she stressed, even though “some people are saying she is not.” Either way, “it doesn’t matter. I should have known more about Ms. Rachel.”
“The way that she speaks in her videos, it does overwhelm my son,” Whitney admitted. “But maybe he’s just not old enough.” As Whitney noted, she “only has the experience of raising” her son. “So, I’m sorry if it wasn’t the same experience that you guys have had with Ms. Rachel, [but] I’m sure that maybe, when he gets a little older, he’s [also] gonna be obsessed with her.”
But, so far, some of Whitney’s commenters remain divided. Several even vaguely referenced Ms. Rachel’s accidental like, speculating, “I think we all know why you chose Ms. Rachel.” However, Whitney addressed this as well, claiming that she allegedly “did not know about all of the Palestine, Israel” matters that she was “stepping into” here regarding Ms. Rachel.
Whitney surmised our world is experiencing a scary timeline. “Tensions are high, so I apologize for adding any stress to anyone’s day, or maybe being mad at me was a nice diversion,” she joked. But either way, moving forward, Whitney is “really going to try and not make jokes around this sacred person” anymore.
TELL US – DID YOU FIND WHITNEY’S APOLOGY SINCERE?
