Bette Midler Got Shit For Her Response To The Baby Formula Shortage
Bette Midler is well-known for a lot of things: singing, acting, and running her mouth online. Guess which of these talents has landed her in hot water? If you responded, “Bette, for your sake, get off Twitter,” then you’re right! The actress recently commented on the baby formula shortage hitting America and did it with the nuance and grace that you come to expect from Hollywood royalty. In other words, she said something tone-deaf on Twitter and got some heat!
The US is currently facing an awful baby formula shortage, one of the worst in recent history. There are a few reasons behind this major disruption, but, in short, ongoing supply chain issues and a recent recall from one of the largest suppliers for baby formula has led to parents scrambling to find formula for their kids. It’s not a particularly easy problem to solve. Unless you’re Bette Midler! Bette weighed in on the situation and came up with her faultless solution to this seemingly complex quandary:
TRY BREASTFEEEDING! It’s free and available on demand. https://t.co/15xetgg1ps
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) May 13, 2022
DUH! Breastfeeding! Why didn’t millions of American parents think of that?! They did and they let Bette have it.
Bette, respectfully, this is a very bad take. I had twins. I didn’t produce enough milk for both. Without formula, I would have had to have chosen which one got to eat. To say nothing of kids that get separated from the birth mothers very young.
— Ilyse Hogue (@ilyseh) May 13, 2022
Dear Bette, I nursed my son but many moms can’t. Sometimes they WANT to but the milk doesn’t come down, some can’t bc of work, and it’s still taboo in many social contexts. If an infant is ALREADY on formula, it’s not like you can just WILL your breasts to produce milk.
— Jean Yoon (윤 진 희 or 尹真姬) (@jean_yoon) May 13, 2022
In case you were unaware, breastfeeding isn’t always the best or easily available option for feeding a baby. There are lots of reasons why people can’t breastfeed, so formula is the next best thing. Bette was taken to task and inundated with families sharing well thought out explanations and heartfelt anecdotes as to why formula is necessary. You hear that, Bette? You CAN think before you tweet! After receiving hundreds of replies, Bette decided that instead of taking the L, she would respond to the backlash with another message.
People are piling on because of former tweet. No shame if you can’t breastfeed, but if you can & are somehow convinced that your own milk isn’t as good as a “scientifically researched product”, that’s something else again. The monopoly news is news to me, tho, no lie. #WETNURSES
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) May 13, 2022
Unsurprisingly, the tweet also got a lot of criticism for the “piling on” and #WETNURSES comments.
Are you reading the stories of the people “piling on?” Almost every one is a testimony about why breastfeeding didn’t work for them and not a single one I’ve read says the reason was because they didn’t think their milk was good enough. Formula saved many of our babies’ lives.
— JHG (@WithLoveFromDF) May 13, 2022
Yeah, Bette definitely sidestepped the apology (add dancing to her many talents!) and went the “let me explain myself” route. I can understand this decision, though. After saying sorry to all of West Virginia, she only has so many “Apologize to the Masses” templates left in her Twitter drafts!
Pic: Ron Sachs/POOL/CNP/startraksphoto.com