In recent months, Emily Ratajkowski has increasingly utilized her TikTok page to speak out on feminist issues and regularly calls out famous men for their problematic behavior.
In videos posted to her 1.8 million followers, Emily has spoken out against Shia LaBeouf and Harvey Weinstein while also speaking in defense of Amber Heard. She also shared her outrage at Roe v. Wade being overturned. More recently, she gave her thoughts on Adam Levine’s cheating scandal.
Emily continued her feminist discourse over the weekend when she insisted in a new video that the #MeToo movement and “cancel culture” haven’t actually had a significant impact on the world.
Emily went on to claim that instead, men are just more afraid of getting caught and don’t actually understand the fundamental reasons behind why they need to change the way that they view and treat women.
“Me Too hasn’t changed things in the world, cancel culture hasn’t changed things, all we have now is men who are afraid of consequences,” Emily begins. “As a parent, I can tell you when you want to teach your child something like not to hit other kids, you don’t want them to not hit other kids because they’re scared of a timeout.”
“You want them to not hit other kids because they have empathy and they understand that hurting other kids is not nice because it will hurt those kids and they don’t want to hurt other kids,” she goes on, in reference to her 19-month-old son, Sylvester.
“I think in a post Me Too world, what we have is a lot of dudes who are afraid of getting caught, they’re just afraid of the consequences of their actions,” Emily continues. “They don’t actually understand, fundamentally, why they need to change their actions. So that’s not progress.”
While many of Emily’s followers agreed with what she was saying, the vast majority couldn’t help but question her stance as they pointed out that she has been romantically linked to Brad Pitt in recent months.
“Girl you’re literally dating brad pitt,” one comment read. Another echoed: “But…aren’t you dating Brad Pitt? I’m confused.”
Someone else mentioned Brad’s ex as they wrote: “Justice for Angelina.” Another person commented: “Omg just like brad pitt.”
One more said: “I agree with you but it feels weird listening to you talk about this when you’ve been seen recently with brad pitt :(”
The two stars were first linked back in August, with People reporting at the time that they are “spending a lot of time together.” Sources told the publication that Brad and Emily have bonded over a mutual love of art and “always have a great time when they hang out [and] they stay in touch when they don't see each other."
According to OK, Brad has been attracted to Emily since they briefly spoke at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar party, and he asked her out after she split from her husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard, earlier this year.
“He asked her out, and she said yes,” an insider said. “She’s always thought Brad was cute, and the way she saw it, what does she have to lose?”
Emily officially filed for divorce from Sebastian in September after four years of marriage — and two months after they split amid claims of his infidelity.
And Brad has apparently been helping Emily through her heartbreak, with a source telling People earlier this month: “She thinks Brad is amazing. They have been on a few dates and she is pretty smitten. She is very cute when she talks about Brad. She thinks he is a gentleman. It's really been the perfect timing for her."
But Emily’s rumored romance with Brad has coincided with Angelina Jolie making a series of allegations against him after their breakup.
Brad and Angelina first got together in 2005 and share six children, but in 2016 there was an FBI report regarding a “child welfare incident” on a private plane that involved the former couple, with more details coming to light earlier this month.
According to the New York Times, Angelina is accusing Brad of choking and striking two of their children during that flight in legal documents for a countersuit about a French winery they once shared.
In the suit, Angelina claims that Brad took hold of her head and shook her before grabbing her shoulders, shaking her again, and pushing her into the bathroom wall. She goes on to accuse Brad of pouring beer and red wine on her and the children.
The legal documents read: “When one of the children verbally defended Jolie, Pitt lunged at his own child and Jolie grabbed him from behind to stop him. To get Jolie off his back, Pitt threw himself backwards into the airplane’s seats, injuring Jolie’s back and elbow."
"The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other. Before it was over, Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face. Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop. They were all frightened. Many were crying,” the documents continue.
So it is perhaps unsurprising that Emily’s latest TikTok has rubbed viewers the wrong way, with one user acknowledging that while neither Brad nor Emily have confirmed the growing reports, Emily should clarify if there is no truth to them.
They wrote: “She needs to tell Brad Pitt this if she’s dating him if she’s not she should clear it up 😳”
Emily was called out in a similar way in September, when she took to her TikTok page to criticize Netflix’s new Marilyn Monroe biopic, Blonde.
She accused the movie, directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Ana de Armas, of “fetishizing female pain” and added: “Look at the way we obsess over dead girls and serial killers. Watch any CSI episode, and it's this crazy fetishization of female pain and death.”
"I think as a woman, I can say for myself, I've learned how to fetishize my own pain and my own hurt, so it feels like something that can be tended to, that's kind of sexy. 'Oh, I'm this fucked up girl and whatever,' and I think we do that in many, many different ways. But I want that to change,” Emily goes on.
Once again, her followers overwhelmingly agreed with the crux of Emily’s TikTok, with Blonde receiving widespread backlash ever since its release last month.
But others pointed out that Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B, was behind the movie, as they questioned how she could date somebody whose work is so at odds with her personal beliefs.
“Agree. What does Brad Pitt think of your views?” one person commented at the time. Another asked: “Wait but aren’t you seeing the guy that produced it??? …. Plan b productions ….. Brad Pitt… ???”
All in all, one Twitter user appeared to sum up the general reaction to Emily’s recent uploads when they wrote: “Why is emily ratakowski making feminist discourses on tik tok while not addressing the fact that she’s dating brad pitt…i love her but..”
why is emily ratakowski making feminist discourses on tik tok while not addressing the fact that she’s dating brad pitt…i love her but..
BuzzFeed News has contacted Emily’s representative for comment.
Meanwhile, although Brad has not publicly commented on the new allegations against him in the legal filing, he has previously been open about his struggle with alcohol being a factor in the breakdown of his and Angelina’s relationship.
“I was boozing too much. It’s just become a problem,” he told British GQ in 2017, where he also mentioned the Child Services investigation into him.
“I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called,” Brad explained at the time.
