1 Happy St

When did it become popular for celebrities to say that the media took them of context rather than simply apologizing for what they said? Every celebrity that puts his or her foot in their mouth does this now. We hear things like, "I didn't say that I hate gays, I was taken out of context" or "I didn't cheat on my wife, I was taken out of context" or "I didn't shoot that guy, I was taken out of context." Can everyone start doing this, or have celebrities cornered the market? Like if Jill overhears me complaining about her driving, can I later claim that she took me out of context?

Just for the record, Jill is a great driver and she would never hear me complaining. But even if she did, I wouldn’t use the “taken out of context” defense. Instead, I would bust out the “my bad” defense. I think that’s more appropriate.