Ciara sang the national anthem before Monday night’s College Football Playoff Championship game. It was a nice performance and there was nothing wild about it, just a woman with a really good voice singing the national anthem.
That is until Bonnie Bernstein of Campus Insiders decided to weigh in and call out Ciara for her dress, saying that kids were watching and she needed to “cover up.”
Dear Ciara. You're stunning. But this is a National Championship Game. Kids are watching. Cover up.
— Bonnie Bernstein (@BonnieBernstein) January 12, 2016
This led to a firestorm of people tweeting at Bernstein and calling her out for her position on Ciara’s choice of outfit.
@BonnieBernstein How dare she partially reveal her body when children are preparing to watch 21-year olds destroy each other for no money!
— Jesse (@Jessecooksfood) January 12, 2016
@BonnieBernstein pic.twitter.com/edxc3yexxD
— Adam Hunter (@AHiddyCBC) January 12, 2016
https://twitter.com/FlowsAndolini/status/686726468739674112
@BonnieBernstein and I bet moms had kids watching the #GoldenGlobes last night. I hope you were on #WardrobePatrol then too
— Cristobal Ramos (@vamanosRamos) January 12, 2016
https://twitter.com/FUCCl/status/686732913094844417
https://twitter.com/Taylor_Payne_92/status/686728751045042176
@BonnieBernstein pic.twitter.com/yxFCL6G656
— Lil Emotional Peanut (@MattNowak1) January 12, 2016
https://twitter.com/B_Effin_G/status/686726586280886272
Some people came to the defense of Bernstein. And by “some people,” I mean Fox Sports 1 hot take purveyor Jason Whitlock. At first his defense of Bernstein was pretty simple, saying the dress was inappropriate and that the revealing portion was “nudity.”
https://twitter.com/WhitlockJason/status/686732178412060674
It’s a pretty loose definition of nudity, considering Ciara was wearing a dress, but then Whitlock wanted to clarify that his comments don’t make him a “prude” because he has a love of nudity. Seriously.
https://twitter.com/WhitlockJason/status/686732536815333376
Bernstein did eventually address the people criticizing her, saying that what she said included a compliment, therefore making it OK. She also addressed people who said that her reason for throwing shade at Ciara was racially motivated.
Truly am amazed at how people take a tweet (that includes a compliment!) & wanna make it about race. Seriously. Grow up. Watch the game.
— Bonnie Bernstein (@BonnieBernstein) January 12, 2016
The irony, of course, is that Bernstein wouldn’t have riled up a bunch of people if she didn’t feel the need to make a non-issue into an issue.