Ariel Winter Calls out Vine Star Nash Grier's "Homophobic" Past
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"Modern Family" actress Ariel Winter recently called out Vine star Nash Grier for his "homophobic and ignorant" presence online. When Grier asked fans to share their #FavNashVid over the weekend, Winter condemned an old Vine he made in which he expressed his belief that HIV is a "gay thing" and yelled the word "fag."
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Grier, who has more than 12 million followers on Vine, has since deleted the Vine and apologized for his words, but the clip was still uploaded to YouTube by someone else:
In 2014, Grier wrote in a Huffington Post piece that he was very "sheltered" and had a much smaller following when he posted the aforementioned Vine video. Winter, however, did not sympathize with this argument. In another tweet, she wrote that he has posted homophobic content since removing the controversial Vine video. She also referenced a deleted video he made telling women how to be more attractive.
RELATED: Ariel Winter Has a Brutal Message for Slut Shamers
"You say that we have to shave our entire bodies (including our arms?!) to be attractive and that our peach fuzz around our lips is super gross to kiss," Winter wrote. "We also have to entertain you at all times! So along with being homophobic, you are also lowering women's self-esteem!"
Winter concluded by saying she doesn't believe Grier has really changed his ways and that his small following in the past doesn't excuse the kind of things he said back then.
"Just because you had no following back then does not make what you said okay," she wrote. "I can't even believe that you would use that as an excuse!"
When Grier asked to have a private conversation with Winter about her tweets, she declined the offer:
Grier went on to throw shade at Winter for shutting him down:
Winter, however, relayed that it's important to recognize that what you put online has a lasting impact.
In the past, Winter has used social media to highlight important social issues, especially those impacting women. A few months ago, she confronted sexist online trolls in an Instagram post detailing her experiences with slut-shaming. Winter wrote that it's wrong to slut-shame women and that she received immense criticism for previously sharing a photo of herself in a bikini beside her nieces.
"Who knew that an innocent photo with my nieces would turn into this?" she wrote. "The height of a girl's skirt or whatever she is wearing for that matter, does not imply that she is asking for. It sickens me to think at 17 years old, a photo of myself with my nieces is suggesting that I'm 'asking for it.'"
Last summer, Winter talked to Glamour about her decision to have breast reduction surgery and said that hurtful comments about her body damaged her self-esteem.
"We live in a day and age where everything you do is ridiculed," Winter told the publication. "The Internet bullies are awful. I could post a photo where I feel good, and 500 people will comment about how fat I am and that I am disgusting."
