At this point, it's unsurprising when cruel comments pop up on celebrities' Instagrams. Not that it makes it OK — it's just become the norm. While most people choose to ignore the abundance of hate, Solange Knowles decided to speak up and it was amazing. Over the weekend, Knowles shared a photo of her son Julez dressed up in his Halloween costume. The 11-year-old wore a bucket hat, headphones, and tracksuit to channel his inner LL Cool J. Honestly, he nailed it! But some Internet commenters didn't agree.
After one user called Julez "ugly," the mom wouldn't stand for it. Tagging the user directly in her response, Knowles explained why this kind of comment was so problematic. Here's an excerpt:
Jussst as I thought it was safe to share pictures again, a young'n like you decides to use her time to spread ugliness ... Thanks again for being a reminder that out of all the love and wonderful energy shared, that when I open up a space for an innocent beautiful being like my boy to be criticized and judged, that I WILL most likely response, and that he receives enough love and celebration at home that it's just not worth it to go down this road.
The singer ended by saying she hopes the person will "make better decisions in the future towards how you use [their] words towards innocent children." Everything about her response is perfect! Why does anyone feel the need to critique another person's appearance — let alone the appearance of an innocent kid? He was just dressing up for Halloween and trying to have fun.
Since it's worth reading in all its glory, here's Knowles' full response. I scrolled back through her hundreds of comments, so you didn't have to!
Clearly, Knowles has the whole parenting thing down. It's admirable she chose to respond to the comment with kindness, instead of more negativity. She held her head high and spoke the truth, proving that's the best way to get a message across.
Luckily it seems like Julez is unfazed or unaware of the whole commotion — as he should be. On Monday, Knowles shared two videos of him dancing around with his friends.
If there were more dance videos like that on Instagram, instead of hateful comments, the world would be a much better place.
Image: Solange Knowles/Instagram (screenshot)
