When Jeff Goldblum suddenly started trending on Twitter on Thursday, fans of the 67-year-old actor and “beloved living meme” flew into a panic. Did something bad happen to him? Was he injured? Was he dead?
Then, they learned the real reason for the uptick in chatter, and for many the news was even more dire than they had feared.
In this June 6, 2016, file photo, actor Jeff Goldblum poses for photographers at the photo call for the film Independence Day Resurgence at Euston Station in London. Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP, File
“I was worried that Jeff Goldblum was trending because he died and it somehow turned out to be even worse than that,” one person tweeted.
On Thursday, Goldblum, much to the dismay of his legions of admirers, became the latest celebrity to be “canceled” for not condemning director Woody Allen, instead saying in a recent interview that he “would consider working with” the filmmaker again. Accusations that Allen molested his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow when she was a child gained renewed attention amid the #MeToo movement, prompting a number of actors to distance themselves from the director with promises to cut ties with him. Allen has denied the allegations.
“I think there is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty,” Goldblum told the i, a British newspaper, in an interview published earlier this week. “I know I enjoyed working with him many years ago and I sat in with his band once too.”
The actor, who had a small yet memorable role in Allen’s 1977 film “Annie Hall,” continued: “Even though I feel like this cultural shift [the #MeToo movement] is very, very positive and long overdue and I support it wholeheartedly and take it very seriously, I also admire his body of work. So I would consider working with him again, until I learned something more.”
Goldblum isn’t the first significant Hollywood name to take such a stance on Allen, but his remarks instantly sent the internet into a tailspin. Over the course of his decades-long career, Goldblum has been consistently well-liked by fellow celebrities and fans alike, The Washington Post’s Travis M. Andrews reported. Actress Glenn Close once described him as “charm personified” and his former girlfriend Laura Dern said, “He makes you so damn happy to be alive,” Andrews wrote. His fame has only increased with time as he became a rich source of inspiration for memes, spawning scores of viral images, according to The Post’s Elahe Izadi.
By early Friday, Goldblum had become a trending moment on Twitter as dedicated fans struggled to reconcile the news with their love for the “Jurassic Park” star, whose lasting popularity has earned him the distinction of being an “icon to icons” and “the Internet’s boyfriend.”
“Jeff Goldblum is cancelled,” one person tweeted. “Never thought it would happen.”
Once people got over their initial concerns that Goldblum had died, it didn’t take long for their fear to be replaced with outrage and disappointment.
“Jeff, please go deep into the woods and do not come out,” a Twitter user wrote.
Others were less surprised. Critics noted that Goldblum has long been friends with Allen, spoken positively about working with Allen and credits him with influencing his career as a jazz musician. The actor’s red-haired poodle is named Woody Allen Goldblum, GQ reported in 2014, describing the canine as “The closest Jeff Goldblum has to a baby at the moment.”
Some wondered if Goldblum’s comments about Allen would affect his upcoming projects. The actor is slated to launch a series, “The World According To Jeff Goldblum,” on Disney’s new streaming platform next week.
“How long til Disney cuts ties with Jeff Goldblum?” a Twitter user asked.
Goldblum also had defenders who rushed to point out that the actor’s comments did not merit the amount of backlash they were receiving. In September, actress Scarlett Johansson sparked a social media firestorm after telling the Hollywood Reporter: “I love Woody. I believe him, and I would work with him anytime.”
“Ok, so I’m prefacing with this: I believe women and think Woody Allen is a creep,” a person tweeted. “Jeff Goldblum being cancelled is absurd. He said he’d consider working with him, not definitely would. He said there’s a presumption of Innocence until proven guilty which there is.”
Still, as many lamented that Goldblum getting canceled is only further proof that “there are no good men,” other people agonized over the sudden turn of events. The last time Goldblum went viral on the internet, he had been caught on video in September dancing to Normani’s hit song, “Motivation,” during Southern Decadence, an annual LGBT celebration in New Orleans.
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