Cara Delevigne is a leading slashie: a model slash actor, who's been actively courting Hollywood. Lately, she's been eschewing the catwalk for the the camera, having most recently appeared in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
The haute couture model just found herself dealing with a bit of backlash from her fans. She posted a photo to her Instagram that is a stock photo of an old-timey woman reading a book. Text superimposed on the photo reads "one girl loved reading so much/she forgot to how to take a selfie."
Yes, we understand that it's meant to be a cheeky reflection on pop culture, but fans were understandably pissed off. After all, it suggests that selfies are a form of anti-intellectualism.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Later, she updated the post to include the caption "wow! The backlash on this picture is heavy!! I am not trying to say that I am better than anyone. It's a nice reminder to me and to anyone. The power of getting lost in a book."
Here at R29, we are very pro-selfie. Selfies are a great way to celebrate your on-point contouring, document a seriously slaying outfit, or capture a sexy moment for a sexy person in your life. For this reason, we're happy to see that Delevingne isn't condemning the selfie as a form of anti-intellectualism. Because reading books and taking selfies are not mutually exclusive. In a comment, user madi_young__ makes a great point: "Why can’t ya be both ?"
We should also note that Cara didn't actually apologise — she offered a version of the "sorry if you're offended" non-apology.
If you're interested in the power of "getting lost in a book," may we suggest Roxane Gay's incredibly, brave, and honest book Hunger? It's absolutely one of the best reads of the year.