‘Double standards’: Voice star slammed
Voice coach Kelly Rowland courted controversy last night with an on-air rant about a contestant's sexist behaviour - when some viewers accused her of committing the very same sin just minutes earlier.
Both Rowland and fellow coach Boy George had turned their chairs for performer Ricky Muscat, and Rowland greeted the former Australian Idol contestant warmly after he'd finished singing.
"Hello! What is your name, good looking?" she asked him.
A few minutes and a couple of coach pitches later, it was time for Muscat to choose which coach he'd like to work with.
"George: I love you. Kelly: You're so beautiful. The coach that I am choosing is George," he announced.
Rowland then suffered a slightly ego-bruising moment as she got up from her seat to give Muscat a hug - but he instead walked past her to embrace George and Guy Sebastian.
Back in her seat, a visibly annoyed Rowland gestured to fellow coach Delta Goodrem to join her.
"It is the most frustrating sh*t. You know what's so frustrating? To be called beautiful … it's so degrading. It really p**ses me off," she said, her rant inaudible to the studio audience but picked up by her microphone.
"Like 'Oh, you're so cute', or 'You're so pretty'. I've been here for 20-something years, you know what I mean?" the former Destiny's Child star continued, as Goodrem listened.
"It's not about … I don't care who he would have chosen, it's just the fact that he says, 'And you, you're a woman, you're pretty,' that makes me upset. Oh, that irritates me."
A very valid point - but for some viewers, its power was somewhat dulled by the fact Rowland had only minutes earlier responded to Muscat's performance by remarking on his looks:
Kelly: “Hello Handsome”
— Oliver (@snowb0ne02) June 8, 2020
Contestant: ‘Calls Kelly Beautiful’
Kelly: it’s so degrading
The double standards before me eyes #TheVoiceAU #kelly
How is Kelly affronted because he called her pretty, when she turned around the first thing she said to him was that he was good looking?! Seriously, bruh. Build a bridge, and get the F over it.#TheVoiceAU
— HeatherCG (@HClesidia) June 8, 2020
#TheVoiceAU Kelly comments on the looks of all guys when she thinks they’re attractive... but when he calls her beautiful it’s degrading??!! Double standards at their finest
— Chris Newell (@ChrisNe90549802) June 8, 2020
Kelly Rowland being offended by being called beautiful is puzzling, given the first thing she said to the contestant when she turned around was was “well hey good looking”. #TheVoiceAU
— Jennifer Ribarovski (@JenRibarovski) June 8, 2020
@KELLYROWLAND What’s the difference between you saying “And what’s your name Good Looking” and Ricky calling you beautiful? 🤔 #TheVoiceAU
— 𝗝𝗗𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟬 𝗕𝗟𝗠 🖤 (@justind1980) June 8, 2020
@TheVoiceAU can @KELLYROWLAND please explain why she is pissed off at Ricky Muscat for calling her beautiful AFTER she called him good looking? I dont get it? #TheVoiceAU double standards?
— Tony (@ttdmg) June 8, 2020
The hypocrisy of @KELLYROWLAND on the #TheVoiceAU. Often objectifies male contestants (pet hate of mine) and then complains when one calls her beautiful. Her first words to said contestant was "hey good looking." Glass houses.
— Craig Clark (@iamcraigclark) June 8, 2020
#TheVoiceAU when a judge’s pitch to a male starts with “what is your name good looking” then turns after the decision to “You know what’s so frustrating? To be called beautiful, it’s so degrading” 🙄 #doublestandards
— Steve (@born_a_pom) June 8, 2020
Kelly felt degraded when Ricky called her beautiful. Yes, because she's never done the same thing to male contestants. She felt some dude's biceps the other day and all she could say was how handsome he was 🙄 #TheVoiceAu
— Chaerin (@PistachioDonut) June 8, 2020
Miss "Hello good looking!" Is getting all pissed about "Kelly you're beautiful"?
— Tash (@tashwil06) June 8, 2020
GTFOOH. No really. #TheVoiceAU #doublestandards
Others sided with Rowland, arguing she'd "dodged a bullet" when Muscat didn't pick her:
So glad you called out that guy for calling you “beautiful”. We were so shocked and disgusted. As soon as he said that, we were praying that chauvinist idiot wouldn’t pick you. You totally dodged a bullet with him. His ego is in the stratosphere #TheVoiceAU @KELLYROWLAND
— Just Another TV Addict (@Mafs2020) June 8, 2020
the issue isn’t that he thought she’s beautiful, the issue was that in deciding between two iconic coaches offering their help, all he did was comment on her looks and nothing on her experience/talent... y’all just wanna hate kelly #thevoiceau
— ♱ 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒖𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 (@yy___xy) June 8, 2020
Leave it to Boy George to puncture some of the tension in the room: "I think Kelly's upset because he called her pretty - I love when people call me pretty. Please!"
Originally published as 'Double standards': Voice star slammed
