Bette Midler has once again mocked the Kardashian-Jenner fam on Twitter, but this time, her joke is more transphobic than mere trolling.
Following the cancellation of Caitlyn Jenner’s E! reality show, I Am Cait, the singer and actress made a misguided attempt at humor.
“Now that @IAmCait has been cancelled, will she go back to being Bruce?” Bette wrote, deadnaming the transgender reality star before mis-pronouning her, “Will Kris take him back? Do I smell a re-wedding?”
The Hocus Pocus star quickly deleted the tweet but not before other users noticed, including I Am Cait co-star Jenny Boylan and “Leave Britney Alone star” Chris Crocker.
Some said the tweet was especially disappointing given her history as an LGBT ally… or at least an LGB ally.
A trans person's pronouns & gender aren't contingent on you agreeing with their politics/opinions.
I hope @BetteMidler apologizes for her terrible transphobic comments and takes the time to educate herself on trans people's rights/dignity
.@BetteMidler @IAmCait Just shows, you can be as gay-friendly all you want, but to some, transphobia comes so easy. How tired and pathetic.
.@BetteMidler It's not temper. Dead-naming a trans person and suggesting they only transitioned for publicity delegitimizes all trans people
@BetteMidler @IAmCait Yes, because being transgender is just a phase? What a vile tweet. Will you go back to being irrelevant?
Bette, I love you heart and soul, but you can critique Cait without questioning the sincerity of her transition.. twitter.com/bettemidler/st…
So Bette, thanks for the edit. But it's not about "temper." Trans lives are hard. We're not soreheads. We deserve love.@BetteMidler
The 70-year-old apologized for the tweet (in all-caps) the following day, saying she “misread the temper of the times.”
Caitlyn has yet to address Bette’s gaffe.
