Imagine waiting almost 30 years for the continuation of your favorite Halloween movie, only for one of the lead actresses to outshine it with some problematic tweeting. That’s what’s happening with Bette Midler and disappointed Hocus Pocus fans, who were hoping to enjoy the sequel to the 1993 movie free of worries.
The actress-singer-author icon has been making headlines for her inflammatory tweets, namely one where she complains about trans-inclusive language. Middler has since explained her unexpected rant, saying “there was no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic” in her words.
The actress has been very vocal against the United States Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe vs. Wade ruling that previously established abortion as a constitutional right, with some of her tweets perhaps going too far. Besides the seemingly transphobic post, Middler also equated the Supreme Court Justices to Islamic terrorists, adding a portion of the Muslim community to the list of people currently rethinking their Better Midler fan status.
It’s currently not looking good for Disney, which had just dropped the trailer for Hocus Pocus 2 last week. The movie, which was previously attracting a lot of hype, especially from the LGBTQ+ community, is now probably making the damage control team work overtime at the Mickey Mouse offices. All could have been avoided had Bette Midler simply forgotten her Twitter password.
You know what they say, no publicity is bad publicity, and it’s a fact Bette Midler has been trending now more after these tweets than when the trailer for the sequel to the beloved witch story dropped.
Fans will have to wait until Halloween to decide which is spookier: Hocus Pocus 2 or Bette Midler’s Twitter page.