Welcome to the age of the celebrity apology: The most grovelling, cringeworthy and unapologetic tweets

With social media has come an increase in rapid, direct and sometimes grovelling celebrity apologies

Steve Harvey wrongly named Ariadna Gutierrez Miss Universe in 2015, later issuing several apologies

Twitter has provided a new way for high-profile entertainers, sports stars, and politicians to connect with their fan base or audience in a way that wasn’t possible before. MPs can directly receive feedback from their constituents, film stars can immediately detect whether their latest film is going to be a hit and celebrities can make sweeping statements before thinking properly and immediately regretting their words.

With Twitter and this new age of transparency has come the celebrity apology. The past ten years have been filled with numerous incidents involving high-profile members of the Twitterati replying aggressively or dismissively to a fan, embarking on a feud with another high-profile tweeter or carelessly tweeting an offensive thought.

Twitter also means that when celebrities do put their foot in it, they have little choice but to confront the matter head on and take ownership of the narrative by publishing a public apology on the site.

Here is a run down of the most grovelling, cringeworthy and unapologetic celebrity apologies.

Grovelling

John Carney

The director John Carney issued a grovelling, self-deprecating tweet to Keira Knightley last month after making a number of negative comments about her in an interview with the Independent.

Summarising his time working with Knightley on the film Begin Again, Carney said: “I learned that I’ll never make a film with Supermodels again”. He also claimed the actress had an “entourage” which made it difficult to get any work done.

Carney said he was “ashamed” of himself and labelled his comments “petty, mean and hurtful”. He added that he was trying to analyse what his comments say about himself. Knightley maintained a dignified silence throughout.

Steve Harvey

Another severely apologetic tweet came from Steve Harvey after he made the TV blunder of 2015 by crowning the wrong Miss Universe live on television. After incorrectly awarding Miss Colombia the prize, she then had to stand there and have it wrenched from her head when Harvey realised he had read the wrong name from the card and Miss Universe 2015 was actually Miss Philippines.

The apology extended beyond Twitter and Harvey became visibly emotional after being reunited with Ariadna Gutierrez (Miss Colombia) on his show where he said sorry all over again.

Ariana Grande

Another tweeter who decided to use the iPhone notes app to construct their lengthy public apology was Ariana Grande.

Although the act she was apologising over may seem trivial to some (licking a doughnut and saying I hate America) she decided to issue an apology on Twitter after receiving quite a backlash.

In her essay, she said her joke was “taken out of context” and insinuated doughnut-gate was a reflection of her concern about the unhealthy eating habits and obesity crisis in the US. She later apologised again via video.

Unapologetic

Azealia Banks

After a highly-publicised feud with Zayn Malik last year in which she was widely condemned for sending homophobic and racial slurs in tweets to the former One Direction singer, Azealia Banks issued an apology - of sorts.

However, her apology specifically left out Malik. Instead, it was directed at “everyone but the subjects of my tirades”. Banks’ controversial Twitter account was later suspended and she apologised to Malik on Instagram.

Mischa Barton

After disappearing from the limelight since she was catapulted into Hollywood via her starring role in The OC, Mischa Barton found herself the centre of attention once again after she posted a reflective Instagram post about the recent shootings of black men by police officers in the US.

The much-ridiculed post received a backlash due to the photo she shared alongside the caption depicting her on board a yacht, drinking wine.

The next day, Barton took to Twitter and apologised if her post “went out of context”.

Joleon Lescott

Shortly after Aston Villa humiliating 6-0 defeat by Liverpool in February, their centre-back Joleon Lescott tweeted a picture of a very expensive looking Mercedes-Benz.

Needless to say, fans didn’t react well given the timing of the tweet so Lescott sought to clarify matters.

Lescott attributed the tweet to the fact he effectively sat on his phone. “I would like to add that the tweet sent out from my account involving a picture of a car was totally accidental, it happened whilst driving and my phone was in my pocket,” he said.

Jeremy Clarkson

Last year, Jeremy Clarkson apologised for his actions which involved him punching a Top Gear producer and consequently not having his contract renewed for the motoring show.

Among his Twitter apologies was one to the Labour leader Ed Miliband for stealing his thunder. After the former leader of the opposition invited BBC cameras into his home, that segment was reportedly knocked down the pecking order by news of Clarkson’s ‘fracas’.

The 56-year-old later sent a sincere apology to fans of the show and officially apologised to the producer, Oisin Tymon, through his law firm when he settled the incident in February.

Cringeworthy

Labour MP Simon Danczuk found himself apologising on Twitter after a Sunday newspaper reported allegations he exchanged sexually explicit texts with a 17-year-old. The inclusion of the saying: “there’s no fool like an old fool” was awkward to say the least.

The to-the-point political apology and public service apology

In October, the Labour MP Helen Goodman MP made a sweeping statement on Twitter before apologising for it on the same day.

As is often the case with political apologises, they tend to happen swiftly possibly due to part leader warnings or media and public condemnation.

Ms Goodman tweeted Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt directly making a jibe about his Chinese wife, saying: “If China is so great, why did Jeremy Hunt’s wife come to England?”.

Hours later she simply wrote: “Wish to absolutely totally apologise for earlier tweet.”

Liam Payne

Similarly, an apology was sent by One Direction band member Liam Payne after he shared a picture of himself posing on top of a high-rise building in January, 2014.

Probably in light of his huge teenage fanbase, who were also concerned for his welfare, Payne’s apology came with a health and safety message: “I do not endorse any fans trying to repeat this, as it is extremely dangerous,” he warned.

The uncalled for apology

Kanye West

While Kanye West has found himself apologising on several occasions (storming the stage to interrupt Taylor Swift or Beck’s award acceptance speech) there was one un-prompted apology which left his followers slightly confused.

After apologising to Beck for that Grammy incident, it appeared something was in the air as he then decided to apologise to Bruno Mars for opinions he held about the singer that no one was really aware of.

Richard Madden

Despite the above examples of lengthy, drawn out and grovelling apologies, some of them do have desired results such as the below exchange from Game of Thrones star Richard Madden and Cara Delevingne after he appeared to criticise her in an interview.