The ‘Downton Abbey’ Cast Had The Perfect Comeback To ‘Water Bottle-Gate’

It was the photo fail seen ’round the world, or at least all over the Internet.

Downton Abbey, the hit PBS period drama, has such a rabid following that when a promotional photo for season five containing a misplaced water bottle was released earlier this week, over-40 housewives everywhere were outraged and the backlash was severe. Some poor schmuck in the art department has now been demoted to coffee-runner and is probably living as a recluse in his parent’s basement, and pretty much every major entertainment site trolled the bottle blooper on Twitter.

Well, joke’s on you, Internet. The cast of the show got together to address what is now being called “water bottle-gate” and their response to the photo scandal was glorious. The actors posed for a picture, each holding that blasted plastic contraption and sporting some cheeky expressions in support of WaterAid, a nonprofit in the UK that provides clean water around the world. According to the organization’s chief executive Barbara Frost, using the photo to promote WaterAid’s efforts was the cast’s idea.

It brought a really big smile to my face when the cast of Downton Abbey said that they wanted to support WaterAid’s work. How fantastic that the attention created over one water bottle ends up benefiting some of the world’s poorest communities through access to safe, clean water today.

Take that haters.

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