Modern Manners + Etiquette: Worst Manners Awards of 2011
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Manners matter even more when you're famous. Politicians and actors are role models for good as well as bad behavior. However, they're not above getting away with behaving badly. Studies show rising interest in etiquette and manners trending in 2011. Despite that, some of our highest-profile elected officials and celebrities behaved horribly in 2011. The whole point of etiquette is not to make you feel superior but to make others feel good about themselves. I'm presenting awards to those who behaved badly and those who were heroic in 2011. We would like to hear your nominations in response.
Worst-Behaved Husbands/Politicians
Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor, investor, body builder, Governor of California 2003-2011, admitted to "Gropegate," behaving badly "sometimes," he's apologized to seven women who've come forward with stories of misconduct. One of whom, a longtime employee, Mildred Baena, gave birth to his third son 14 years ago.
Anthony Weiner, NY Congressman 1999-2011, resigned from Congress due to a sexting scandal after racy Tweets led followers to a sexually suggestive photograph; he did apologize to his then pregnant wife Huma Abedin.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHerman Cain, Tea Party candidate, who suspended his 2011 candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination following allegations of sexual harassment and adultery by six women—which he currently still denies.
Newt Gingrich, the serial hypocrite, who was charged with 84 ethics violations while Speaker of the House (1995-1999). [It was the first time in history that a Speaker of the House was sanctioned ($300,000), and by
a 395-28 House vote.] Since retiring in 1999, he's amassed a fortune and has become a Republican presidential hopeful in 2012. Mistresses are still coming out of the woodwork.
Best-Behaved Long-Suffering Wives
Maria Shriver, who apparently is now having doubts about pursuing a divorce.
Huma Abedin, a longtime personal aid to Hilary Clinton, recently gave birth to her first child, Jordon Zain Weiner.
Gloria Cain, currently, is sticking by her man.
Worst Bad Etiquette Performance - Female
Madonna, for insulting a fan offering a bouquet of hydrangeas to her at the Venice Film Festival in September 2011. Let's hope the singer-song writer, record producer, actress, film producer and director is more gracious with fans at Superbowl XLV1 when she performs during Halftime.
Best Etiquette Performance - Female
Lady Gaga, singer-song writer, producer, philanthropist, for her evolving dignity and grace and for founding the Born This Way Foundation that focuses on anti-bullying initiatives.
Worst Etiquette Performance - By A (Once) Leading Celebrity
Charlie Sheen for being himself on Two and a Half Men, and then getting fired for ... being himself.
Chris Brown for punching a hole through the window on Good Morning America; not the hip hop artist's only meltdown in 2011.
Patti LaBelle, mother of five, for throwing (a tantrum) a glass of water at an 18-month old for toddling across her path.
Snooki for being an Ugly American in Italy by driving a car into a police vehicle.
Lindsay Lohan for behaving badly at her court-ordered job at the morgue and then for posing nude in Playboy, another morgue-like performance.
Girard Depardieu for peeing in the aisle of a JetCity flight from Dublin to Paris in August 2011.
Alec Baldwin for refusing to turn off his iPad during an American Airlines takeoff and taking his displeasure further by tweeting about it in the twitterverse.
"Iron Chef" Mario Batali for publicly equating the banking industry with Stalin or Hitler.
John Galliano, the well-known French designer, for making highly anti-Semitic remarks in a Paris bar.
Serena Williams for letting her temper get the best of her at the US Open Finals in September 2011.
Ashton Kutcher for cheating on his wife Demi Moore and Tweeting in blind support of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno for supporting a former colleague accused of abusing boys.
Hugh Hefner and ex-fiancée Crystal Harris for arguing publicly about her returning their pet dog Charlie, a $90,000 engagement ring, and a Bentley. Last heard, the founder and CCO of Playboy Magazine told Crystal she could keep the ring and the Bentley, if she returned the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Heroic Behavior
George Clooney for his humanitarian work in developing countries and his op-ed piece in the New York Times, May 2011, titled "Dancing with a dictator in Sudan."
Hugh Jackman's performances in 2011 helped raise a million dollars for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Kate Winslet, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in The Reader (2008). She went on to receive the 2011 Yo Dona award for Best Humanitarian Work for her book and foundation "Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism." On August 21, 2011, the BBC reported she was a true heroine when she carried Richard Bronson's 90-year-old mother to safety after the house they were staying in caught fire.
Tackiest Behavior of 2011 Award goes to:
Kim Kardashian for her over-the-top vulgar wedding to NBA player Kris Humpries and not returning wedding presents after the 72-day marriage! She was recently seen at a Hollywood boutique cashing in on never-opened presents to buy herself a Rolex. Kim was named Grossest Personality of the Year by the National League of Junior Cotillions. Allegations from a former publicist claim her wedding was a staged ploy to generate money. Since the breakup, a widely circulated petition asking that all Kardashian-related programing be kept off the air has everyone in LA signing it!
Didi Lorillard tracks trends in etiquette and manners at NewportManners.com. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, after you've read her 2011 columns below.
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