Sometimes the girls are fighting, and sometimes a tabloid runs a headline that not only makes it seem like the girls are fighting but insinuates that it might be because they fall on different sides of a devastating geopolitical catastrophe. In the case of Olivia Munn and world-famous children’s entertainment star Ms. Rachel, it’s the latter. And for what it’s worth, they aren’t fighting.
Munn was the subject of People’s June 4 cover story, and on June 8, the tabloid pulled a quote from the interview to run as a stand-alone story. The headline read, “Olivia Munn Doesn’t Let Her Kids Watch Ms. Rachel. Here’s Why (Exclusive).” Despite the headline, Munn told People that she actually doesn’t care for most children’s entertainment. “I know kids love [Ms. Rachel], but the thing is, if I can’t watch it, I’m not going to spend the rest of my life going crazy,” she said. “These kid shows drive me crazy.” The actress added that she “can’t take” Blue’s Clues or the Spider-Man cartoons.
That’s a perfectly fine opinion, but the framing of the article suggested that Munn was specifically criticizing Ms. Rachel (real name Rachel Accurso), who has been an outspoken advocate for the children in Gaza. People, in a rare move, later deleted the article, citing “violent threats” made to Munn and her family.
After the article went up, the quote was aggregated by various outlets, leading Accurso to share some of the headlines in a (now-deleted) post on Instagram. The YouTube star captioned the post, “WHO CARES?! I’d rather you cover me advocating for kids in Gaza who are literally starving, largest cohort of child amputees in modern history, thousands & thousands killed — no medical care, no education, no homes … do better!!!”
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On June 11, Munn addressed the controversy on her Instagram Story. “To Ms Rachel and your fans, I hear and respect the passion behind your support. I never anticipated the media would single out one small thing I said and distort it like they have,” she shared. “Every parent understands the importance of finding meaningful programming that helps us connect with our kids. I don’t want something taken out of context to be a moment that steals even a minute of joy for anyone.”
That same day, Munn’s husband, John Mulaney, jumped into the conversation to stand up for his wife. “An innocent comment my wife Olivia Munn made about what children’s programs we like has somehow — unbelievably — been conflated with not caring about the deaths of children in Gaza,” he wrote on his Instagram Story. “Because of this, my wife and my two kids are now receiving violent and threatening comments and messages in her DMs. This is absolutely insane and needs to stop … You took a nothing comment to a dark and dangerous place. This kind of behavior isn’t activism.”
Accurso also shared a post asking people not to go after Munn. “As I said in my first post, this isn’t about her. It was that I scroll & see stories that don’t matter while seeing that children’s immeasurable suffering is being ignored — it breaks me,” she wrote. Accurso added that there is no feud; she and Munn have spoken and are both “choosing kindness.”
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So, there’s no feud, no beef, and really no drama. However, don’t be surprised if Ms. Rachel’s next video includes an earworm-y song about media literacy and reading past the headlines.
