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'The Hills' actress Stephanie Pratt is being called out for a controversial tweet during the Black Lives Matter protests: 'Shoot the looters'

Jun 2, 2020, 01:19 IST
Insider
Stephanie Pratt starred on "The Hills."Amy Sussman/Getty Images
  • "The Hills" actress Stephanie Pratt was called out on Twitter for a controversial statement about so-called "looters" during protests against the death of George Floyd.
  • "Shoot the looters - using this tragedy as their excuse to rob and burn all of our towns down," Pratt said in her tweet.
  • People on Twitter were quick to criticize the actress for seemingly glorifying violence against protesters, calling Pratt "racist."
  • Others brought up that Pratt was arrested on charges of stealing over $1,300 worth of clothing from a Neiman Marcus in 2006.
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"The Hills" star Stephanie Pratt received backlash on Twitter after she seemingly condoned violence against George Floyd protesters.

Floyd died after Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on his neck for about eight minutes. The incident was caught on video and circulated widely on social media, sparking Black Lives Matter demonstrations and marches across the country. Chauvin has since been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

In addition to and separate from the protests, there have been police and media reports of looting in certain cities, including New York, Minneapolis, and parts of southern California like Santa Monica.

After tweeting on Sunday that she was getting emotional while watching people "burn down" Santa Monica, Pratt took things a step further and called for the so-called "looters" to be shot.

"Shoot the looters - using this tragedy as their excuse to rob and burn all of our towns down," she wrote in the since-deleted tweet.

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Stephanie Pratt has since deleted this tweet.Stephanie Pratt/Twitter

Immediately after Pratt tweeted the controversial statement, Twitter users criticized the actress for her "racist" and tone-deaf language.

The majority of users focused on Pratt's hypocrisy since she was arrested on charges of second-degree theft after shoplifting $1,300 worth of clothing from a Neiman Marcus in Hawaii in 2006.

Some even accused Pratt of inciting violence with her controversial tweet and tagged Twitter's safety page in an attempt to report it.

Pratt seemingly tried to clarify her comments in a subsequent tweet (that's also been deleted) on Monday, telling followers, "There's some confusion between the words looter & protester on the news."

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"The protesters are trying to make changes & end decades long police violence which we ALL WANT," she continued in the now-deleted tweet (seen by Insider). "Looters, however are a--holes."

Pratt isn't the only celebrity who's received backlash for her comments about the protests currently happening across the United States.

Fans also called out Ellen DeGeneres for posting (and then deleting) a tweet about the injustices "people of color" currently face, without mentioning the black community or her own efforts to combat racism directly.

Read the original article on Insider
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