Sometimes you feel so elated that you want to sing out in happiness and shout out to the world. Whereas other times you may feel so angry that you need to vent out your anger and to proclaim it to the world. And then there are always fragile cases of heart break which you convey to the world with deep sadness.

Now your immediate world may be comprised of your parents, your peers, and your friends. However, social media gives you a platform to connect virtually with the rest of the world. It is through social media that you can be in touch with your distant friends and relatives. You can share whatever you feel like sharing with others through social media. But when you have the power to share anything, and since you are sharing it out to the world, you need to be vigilant about the content you are posting sometimes. Not everyone will share your sense of humour or personal opinion. 

And this vigilance becomes highly important if you are an established celeb or else if you have a huge reach. You never know which post of yours might go viral. So learn to check your posts, especially those that showcase your brand of humour. Otherwise, you’ll also land up here on this list of 15 social media controversies the world can never forget.

15. Kim Kardashian’s Virgin Mary Candle

Kardashians are known for keeping the rumor mill busy. And Kim, out of them all, takes the most credit! She has a long list of social media controversies to her name and her recent one made people fall off their chairs laughing. Kim shared some photo-shopped pictures of her as the Virgin Mary incarnate on her twitter handle and kick-started a new controversy. On her Kimoji site, fans even have the option to buy KIMOJI and KIMOGIF designs portraying her as the Virgin Mary. Now she has also added Virgin Mary themed candles. Obviously she started receiving backlash from many aggravated people. “Disgusting! As a Christian, I’m truly offended. If you knew who the Virgin Mary was and what she represents, you would actually be embarrassed,” a Twitter user commented on Kim’s post. She has been criticized day in and day out for toying with people’s religious sentiments, but it has no effect on her. Thanks to her, tabloids at least have some sure source of inspiration for their next article.

14. McDonald’s Anti-Trump Tweet

McDonald’s made Trump fans furious with a single tweet. “You are actually a disgusting excuse of a President and we would love to have @BarackObama back,” McDonald’s wrote. The tweet landed the giant brand in hot water as people demanded an immediate public apology. Although the tweet was up on Twitter for only a mere 20 minutes, it was retweeted more than a 1,000 times. McDonald’s claimed that its account was hacked by an external source but that didn’t help much with the situation. Although McDonald’s tried its best to diffuse the controversy, Trump fans strongly criticized the brand over the tweet. “Why would you post this? Do you think it’s ok to insult our president? And for the records, Obama was a failure!” a Twitter user wrote. I guess they weren’t loving it.

13. Ellen Riding Back On Usain

Ellen DeGeneres and Usain Bolt, these are two personalities who need no introduction. But are you aware of Ellen’s alleged ‘Usain Bolt Tweet’? During the Rio Olympics, Ellen shared an edited image that showed her riding the back of the Jamaican star. “This is how I’m running errands from now on,” she captioned the picture. Many Twitter users thought the tweet was in poor taste. They claimed that the image was “racist” and slammed Ellen with criticisms. However, Ellen’s fans stood by her. After a couple of days, Ellen responded to comments. “I am highly aware of the racism that exists in our country. It is the furthest thing from who I am,” she tweeted. Neither Ellen nor Usain’s rapport was affected by this controversy though. But she must have gotten through her errands real quick, eh?

12. Bianca Jagger’s Defamed MPs

Model turned human rights activist, Bianca Jagger was widely criticized for her twitter post in 2016. She shared a list about UK MP’s who had once showed their support for the Iraq War in 2003. Through this tweet, she wanted to express her support for the Labor Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn. However, the link that was shared by Bianca included racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic references about many of the politicians. Labor Party MP Chris Bryant was called an infamous homosexual exhibitionist soon after the list went viral! A red Bryant sought out an apology from Bianca for defaming people by sharing the misguided link. “I am mortified about the terrible mistake I made. I posted a tweet at 4.15 am without reading the unspeakable contents of the website,” Bianca mentioned in response to the controversy.

11. Baby North’s Picture on Instagram

So once again, Kim Kardashian is on this list. She had a blast on Instagram after sharing the picture of her six month old daughter. Now a question might come to your mind, what was wrong in posting a baby’s picture? According to a few Instagram users, Kim had waxed her baby’s eyebrows before sharing the pic on Instagram. But Kim rejected such claims. Despite her denial, however, discussion about baby North West’s eyebrows did not die down. “Do people really think I would wax my daughter’s eyebrows so young? Come on, I’d wait until she’s at least 2 1/2! I’m kidding!!! It’s pretty sick for people to insinuate that I would wax my daughter’s eyebrows. They are thick, natural, and amazing!” Kim responded on Twitter.

10. Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi Ad

Kendall Jenner was under heavy fire due to a Pepsi ad posted on social media. The ad was pulled from YouTube since it was criticized severely by people. In the ad Jenner was portrayed as a supporter of movements that fought for social justice. The “wow” factor of the ad was when Jenner handed over a Pepsi can to a policeman. But this twist created big trouble. “LMAO Pepsi’s new ad, Kendall Jenner ends racism by handing policemen a Pepsi – way to degrade 50 years of black/minority struggle,” a Twitter follower wrote.

Many people felt the same and expressed their anger at Pepsi through Twitter. Finally, Pepsi removed the ad and released an apology note. “Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace, and understanding. Clearly, we missed the mark, and we apologize,” Pepsi’s official statement reads. Great think-tank you’ve got there Pepsi!

9. Drake’s Words About the Hijab

Drake is currently at an all-time peak in his career because of his singing talent. But in February, his name was appearing on social media in a negative shade. A bad publicity indeed. It was believed that Drake asked a Muslim woman to remove her hijab during his musical concert. “You got on that hot ass scarf right there, you might wanna take this off. You gotta turn the f*ck up. You gonna have to come out that sh*t,” Drake said on the stage. A video clip captured him in those moments and it was shared on Facebook. This was making noise in other social media platforms too. “Boycott this misogynist Islamaphobe. I don’t care. I’ll take the heat from any Drake fan. Bring it on! I stand tall for my Muslim sisters!” someone tweeted. On Instagram, Drake confessed that he was joking around with the fans and he asked the woman to take off her jacket and scarf “just for fun.” “I am well aware of what a hijab is and I would never make a disrespectful comment like that in my life towards someone who is wearing one,” Drake wrote. To believe or not to believe, that is the question.

8. Peter Bucklitsch’s Tweet About Aylan Al-Kurdi

The Syrian refugee crisis was the biggest challenge faced by the world in 2015. Even today, the refugee crisis is immeasurable. But for some outsiders the Syrian crisis is “nothing.” How can the world forget the picture of Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi? The picture of his dead body lying on the seashore was heartbreaking. However, there were some people who did not mind sharing rude and disrespectful comments about this tragedy. The former UKIP parliamentary candidate Peter Bucklitsch was among them. “The little Syrian boy was well clothed & well fed. He died because his parents were greedy for a good life in Europe. Queue jumping costs,” Bucklitsch tweeted. His tweet was a shock for the twitteratis. When the world was mourning the death of this poor child, Bucklitsch was spreading salt over the injury! On Twitter, people called him “cruel,” “heartless,” and “evil.” And this is to say the least.

7. Queen Elizabeth II’s Death Hoax

BBC’s misleading post broke millions of hearts. In December 2016, BBC shared a picture of Queen Elizabeth II and wrote, “Buckingham palace announces the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 90. Circumstances are unknown. More to follow.” Few fans quickly noticed that it was a fake account that was misusing the BBC brand name. “I just fell for a fake BBC account announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth II because it seemed obvious with this year,” someone wrote. At the time the hoax seemed real because Queen Elizabeth was allegedly ill and had to skip the popular Christmas mass. So, the fake tweet created a hype. A person claimed that he saw a television news team outside Buckingham Palace. Later, BBC reporter Rory Cellan-Jones confirmed that Queen is indeed alive. Long live the Queen!

6. Muhammed Patel’s Stance on Homosexuality

Goldsmith University’s Islamic Society was in serious trouble after a homophobic tweet was posted by one of its members. “Homosexuality is a disease of the heart and the mind,” Muhammed Patel tweeted. Goldsmiths University’s Student Union considered the tweet a serious offence. This tweet caused severe damage to Patel’s career. Due to the controversy, he had no option other than to resign from his job. The resignation was confirmed by the society’s Facebook page. “The committee would like to extend gratitude to all societies on campus – specifically the FemSoc and LGBTQ societies – for their continued support in the face of inaccurate assertions, threats, and Islamophobic messages,” the society’s Facebook post reads. It also reaffirmed that it has no space for any kind of hate speech.

5. Anthony Weiner’s X-rated messages

American politician Anthony Weiner’s public image was completely ruined by one single misplaced tweet. What really happened was that Weiner sent semi-nude pictures of himself to a female student in Seattle. But this private picture was accidentally shared with the world. Weiner pleaded innocence for a long time, but later he accepted his mistake. “I lied because I was ashamed and did not want to get caught,” he said. He also revealed that he had shared X-rated messages and pictures with six other women through Facebook, email, and Twitter. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m deeply ashamed of my terrible judgment,” he said. He also apologized to his wife, Huma Abedin.

4. SpaghettiOs’ Wrong Take

A tweet by the well-known American brand SpaghettiOs was a hot topic for discussion in 2013. The company shared a drawing on Twitter to mark the 72nd anniversary of Japan’s attack of the Pearl Harbor naval base. In the image, the brand’s mascot was seen holding an American Flag and asking its followers to “take a moment to remember #PearlHarbor with us.” The mascot had a smile on its face and Twitter users could not tolerate it. Especially since Pearl Harbor was a national tragedy that extinguished the lives of at least 2,300 American soldiers! The brand realized what was wrong in its tweet and apologized to the people. “We apologize for our recent tweet in remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day. We meant to pay respect, not to offend,” SpaghettiO’s wrote on twitter. A single missing word in a sentence can change the meaning, and SpaghettiO’s learned that the hard way.

3. Justine Sacco’s “Racist” Comment

Justine Sacco, a PR director at InterActiveCorp (IAC) shared a tweet that received thousands of negative comments from people from around the world. “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Sacco wrote on Twitter before heading to Africa. Her tweet was considered “racist” by most who read it. She had no idea how the world was reacting to her tweet when she was inside the plane. People were eager to know what Justine’s reaction would be when she came to know about the controversy, and #HasJustineLandedYet was the trending hashtag, which served only to fan the fire.

“This is an outrageous, offensive comment. The employee in question is currently unreachable on an international flight,” her employers responded. She had to quit her job and apologized for the tweet. That is why it is said that speech is silver and silence is gold.

2. Home Depot’s Bad Question

Home Depot was caught in a social media controversy a couple of years ago. A racist image was shared on Home Depot’s Twitter page which was reprimanded within minutes. The offensive image depicted two African-American drummers and a person wearing a gorilla mask. The brand asked: “Which drummer is not like the other?” The company removed the Twitter post quickly, but it was too late. People had taken screenshots of the image and shared it widely. “We have zero tolerance for anything so stupid and offensive,” Home Depot’s spokesman said. The company apologized on its Twitter handle, but there too it made a mistake. Home Depot made an attempt to say sorry to each and every person who responded to the defaming tweet, but they were not successful. Isn’t this a comedy of errors? Perhaps Home Depot should focus on improving their own home first.

1. Donald Trump’s “Political” Joke

As we all know that Donald Trump is the King of Controversy. Even before entering US politics, he was popular for his sharp tweets and he has been successful in carrying the same trend forward while at office. There are many controversial tweets on Trump’s Twitter handle, and while a few of them are totally hilarious most are insulting and in poor taste. In 2015, he targeted presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in his tweet. “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?” Trump tweeted. Although he deleted it within a few hours, the tweet was read by millions of people by that time. Trump’s office claimed that he is not responsible for that tweet. Trump’s tweet was highly insulting, however that did not stop him from targeting Hilary again.

Sources: refinery29.com, cnn.com, thesun.com, dailymail.com, glamour.com