Sarah Jessica Parker Just Read Our Minds With Her Scathing Take On Celeb Self Care
Both Sarah Jessica Parker and her famous "Sex and the City" character Carrie Bradshaw might love the finer things like high fashion and good wine, but that doesn't mean SJP is unaware of her privilege. While speaking to Marie Claire for its "Beauty Around the Clock" article series, Parker gave her thoughts on the trend of celebrities touting self-care. And she didn't mince words.
When asked about her self-care routine, she said, "I don't like to talk about self-care days because I don't think they're fair to the millions and millions of women who are working in this country and globally." She went on to say that she feels when people of privilege talk and talk about self-care, it makes others feel isolated and lousy because "they can't afford access or even dream of self-care. Nobody wants to hear that some well-to-do, well-paid actress is having a self-care day. I find it tone deaf."
Sarah Jessica Parker did say that there is one thing she will indulge in if she finds the time, and it's carving out 15 minutes to read a book. "Even 15 minutes," she said, "is a big deal for most working mothers in this country who are sometimes working two and three jobs with absolutely no familial support, no community support, perhaps not even a partner." She elaborated that even 15 minutes "is a privilege."
Was SJP quietly calling out other celebs?
While Sarah Jessica Parker didn't name names, her comments did remind us of other celebrities who have been criticized for ceaselessly promoting self-care products, retreats, and services that would only be accessible to the super-wealthy. In the current environment of stagnating wages, skyrocketing prices on necessities like groceries, and an unyielding housing crisis, people like Gwyneth Paltrow and Martha Stewart have been taking some heat, and deservedly so.
Gwyneth Paltrow, whose lifestyle brand Goop has both many fans and many critics, has been called out repeatedly over the last few years for just this type of misguided post or promotion. In 2022, she was slammed for unveiling an incredibly expensive jewelry collection with seemingly no acknowledgment of how unaccessible it would be for most of her followers (via Daily Mail). During the pandemic, she was roasted for similar missteps, including the time she said the lowest point of her months in quarantine was when she stooped to eat bread (via The Guardian). And just this week, Martha Stewart is being called out for sharing a photograph of herself using a literal tiny iceberg to keep her cocktails cool while she is on a cruise. This, at the same time that fires have ravaged Hawaii, a tropical storm is on its way to Florida, and the earth has seen a summer of record-high temperatures (via Daily Mail).
Obviously, celebrities are by nature privileged, but at least Sarah Jessica Parker reminded us all that not every famous person is unaware of how un-relatable their lives are to most of their fans and audiences.