Evangeline Lilly Apologizes For ‘Arrogant’ Comments About Social Distancing

Evangeline Lilly was under for her comments about valuing 'freedom' over her life, and seemingly encouraging people not to practice social distancing -- but has since changed her tune about 'doing her part.'

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Evangeline Lilly, 40, is publicly apologizing about her shocking comments from Mar. 16. “Hello everyone. I am writing you from my home where I have been social distancing since Mar 18th – when social distancing was instituted in the small community where I am currently living,” she began her lengthy Instagram post shared on Thursday, Mar. 26. “At the time of my Mar 16th post, the directives from the authorities here were that we not congregate in groups of more than 250ppl and that we wash our hands regularly, which we were doing. Two days later, those directives changed and, despite my intense trepidation over the socioeconomic and political repercussions of this course of action, PLEASE KNOW I AM DOING MY PART TO FLATTEN THE CURVE, PRACTICING SOCIAL DISTANCING AND STAYING HOME WITH MY FAMILY,” she continued.

The Canadian-born actress attached her heartfelt apology to a to a blurry image of herself and one of her sons playing a game of Monopoly. “I want to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology for the insensitivity I showed in my previous post to the very real suffering and fear that has gripped the world through COVID19. Grandparents, parents, children, sisters and brothers are dying, the world is rallying to find a way to stop this very real threat, and my ensuing silence has sent a dismissive, arrogant and cryptic message,” Evangeline wrote. “My direct and special apologies to those most affected by this pandemic. I never meant to hurt you. When I wrote that post 10 days ago, I thought I was infusing calm into the hysteria. I can see now that I was projecting my own fears into an already fearful and traumatic situation,” she admitted.

Evangeline went on to pay tribute to medical staff around the country who are working tirelessly to keep citizens around the world safe. “I am grieved by the ongoing loss of life, and the impossible decisions medical workers around the world must make as they treat those affected. I am concerned for our communities – small businesses and families living paycheck-to-paycheck – and I am trying to follow responsible recommendations for how to help. Like many of you, I fear for the political aftermath of this pandemic, and I am praying for us all,” her statement added. “At the same time, I am heartened by the beauty and humanity I see so many people demonstrating toward one another in this vulnerable time. When I was grappling with my own fears over social distancing, one kind, wise and gracious person said to me “do it out of love, not fear” and it helped me to realize my place in all of this. Sending love to all of you, even if you can’t return it right now.”

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Hello everyone. I am writing you from my home where I have been social distancing since Mar 18th – when social distancing was instituted in the small community where I am currently living. At the time of my Mar 16th post, the directives from the authorities here were that we not congregate in groups of more than 250ppl and that we wash our hands regularly, which we were doing. Two days later, those directives changed and, despite my intense trepidation over the socioeconomic and political repercussions of this course of action, PLEASE KNOW I AM DOING MY PART TO FLATTEN THE CURVE, PRACTICING SOCIAL DISTANCING AND STAYING HOME WITH MY FAMILY. I want to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology for the insensitivity I showed in my previous post to the very real suffering and fear that has gripped the world through COVID19. Grandparents, parents, children, sisters and brothers are dying, the world is rallying to find a way to stop this very real threat, and my ensuing silence has sent a dismissive, arrogant and cryptic message. My direct and special apologies to those most affected by this pandemic. I never meant to hurt you. When I wrote that post 10 days ago, I thought I was infusing calm into the hysteria. I can see now that I was projecting my own fears into an already fearful and traumatic situation. I am grieved by the ongoing loss of life, and the impossible decisions medical workers around the world must make as they treat those affected. I am concerned for our communities – small businesses and families living paycheck-to-paycheck – and I am trying to follow responsible recommendations for how to help. Like many of you, I fear for the political aftermath of this pandemic, and I am praying for us all. At the same time, I am heartened by the beauty and humanity I see so many people demonstrating toward one another in this vulnerable time. When I was grappling with my own fears over social distancing, one kind, wise and gracious person said to me “do it out of love, not fear” and it helped me to realize my place in all of this. Sending love to all of you, even if you can’t return it right now. EL

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The emotional letter follows the Hobbit stars controversial comments about maintaining business “as usual” during the pandemic. Dubbing the deadly COVID-19 virus as a “respiratory flu,” she, at the time, also wrote that “some people value their lives over freedom, some people value freedom over their lives. We all make our choices.” Her fans and followers quickly pounced on her for the poor choice of words, including actress Sophie Turner, 24. While the Game of Thrones star didn’t mention Evangeline by name, she made it it pretty obvious who she was targeting in an Instagram live video. “Stay inside. Don’t be f***ing stupid, even if you count your ‘freedom‘ over (I don’t know, what is it) your health?” Sophie begged fans. “I don’t give a Fffff about your freedom, you could be infecting other people, other vulnerable people around you by doing this. So stay inside guys,” she curtly added.