A series of Instagram Stories posted by Kaley Cuoco over the weekend have started making the rounds on Twitter as people accuse her of inappropriately shaming her assistant — but as a fellow mushroom-hater, I can sympathize. Let me back up.
On Saturday, the actress called out her assistant, Emma, for the mushrooms that appeared erroneously in the lunch that had been ordered for her, despite her severe hatred of the fungus. In a number of video slides, Cuoco tagged her assistant's Instagram handle, seemingly to blame her for the mix-up, despite the fact that this apparently all went down on Emma's day off.
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"Because I am extremely nice to the people that I work with, I told Emma, my trusty assistant, ‘Take the day off…just order my normal lunch,’” Cuoco says in the Stories, which were recorded and posted on Twitter. “I eat the same thing every day. I eat salmon and veggies, it’s my most favourite thing in the entire world. But what do I hate the most? Anyone who knows me knows that I hate mushrooms. If I see one I really lose my appetite.”
It's here she plucks a mushroom out of the dish with her fork and holds it to the camera, tagging Emma's handle and saying her name.
“I picked out the lone mushrooms. I have tossed them in a trash can that’s not in my dressing room, cause if they’re in my dressing room I’ll know they’re here and I can’t," Cuoco continued. “Crisis averted. Emma, I hope you’re enjoying your day off.”
People are having a lot of trouble figuring out how to feel about the whole thing. As the star of comedy The Big Bang Theory for twelve seasons, it's more likely than not that this whole Story was posted in jest. However, given assistants speaking out over the past year about abuses in the workplace, others are feeling uneasy about the whole thing.
"I’m not normally one to kick up a fuss about stuff, but as a Post PA, not even a normal personal assistant, I think this is kinda mean," Kinsey Rhinehart, who captured and shared the Stories, posted on Twitter. "Even if she’s kidding, I mean, this is minor and I don’t see why you need to embarrass your assistant and call her out like that."
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I’m not normally one to kick up a fuss about stuff, but as a Post PA, not even a normal personal assistant, I think this is kinda mean. Even if she’s kidding, I mean, this is minor and I don’t see why you need to embarrass your assistant and call her out like that. pic.twitter.com/qDBNMkPygu
— Kinsey Rhinehart (@ElKinsino) February 29, 2020
"Her and her assistant probably have a fun relationship where they rag on each other," one fan pointed out in the replies.
"While that could be very true. For her to post this on social media w/out any sort of explanation of their relationship does make her look very entitled or bratty," another responded.
Emma herself had no comment on the matter. It's worth noting that their friendly, playful working relationship has been fastidiously documented, and it's likely this Instagram Story was just a continuation of that trend.
But if she did need to apologize, I know a good mushroom souffle recipe. Too soon?