A firestorm of a cultural debate has erupted about what constitutes healthy boundary-setting and what constitutes emotional manipulation and it’s all thanks to actor Jonah Hill and his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Brady.
Despite the two having been seemingly broken up for a while now, Brady appeared to only have recently shared alleged text messages from Hill where she accuses the star actor of being emotionally manipulative — and those texts have sparked some fierce debate.
Quick background: Hill is a 39-year-old actor who has been in some wildly successful films such as the 2012 “21 Jump Street” reboot, “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Moneyball.” Brady is a professional surfer and surf instructor, per People magazine. The two had first gone public in August 2021, but Hill was already rumored to be dating his current girlfriend by August 2022, according to People.
On Friday and Saturday, however, things took a decidedly bitter turn when Brady produced alleged texts from Hill.
WARNING: The following tweet contains vulgar language that some viewers may find offensive.
Trending:
This is from Sarah Brady – Jonah Hill’s ex – this is manipulative, abusive bullshit.
SHE IS A SURFER AND SHOULDN’T…post pictures of herself in a bathing suit? WTF.
What a tiny little man. pic.twitter.com/WhU0k9tHK0
— celia (@_celia_bedelia_) July 8, 2023
One angry tweeter, who went particularly viral for this one, blasted Hill for what she called “manipulative, abusive bulls***.”
As to the contents of those alleged texts, they do read a bit high school-ish, but sparked very mature debate regardless.
Do you think Jonah Hill did anything wrong here?
Yes: 10% (1 Votes)
No: 90% (9 Votes)
“Plain and simple :
If you need :
-Surfing with men
-Boundaryless inappropriate friendships with men
– to model
– to post pictures of yourself in a bathing suit
– to post sexual pictures
– friendships with women who are in unstable places and from your wild recent past beyond getting a lunch or coffee or something respectful
I am not the right partner for you . If these things bring you to a place of happiness I support it and there will be no hard feelings. These are my boundaries for romantic partnership,” the first text reads.
“My boundaries With you based on the ways these actions have hurt our trust,” a second text reads.
Brady captioned the image with “See the misuse of the term ‘boundaries’?”
There were more texts, including a bizarre exchange where the two appeared to be haggling over which photos of hers to take down and which to keep up, but the gist of the messaging largely followed in that vein.
Obviously, the original tweeter and large swathes of people agreed with the sentiment that Hill was being emotionally manipulative.
However, that sentiment was far from a universal one.
Conservative firebrand Candace Owens, never afraid to jump into the cultural moshpit, offered her two cents on the matter.
There is literally nothing wrong with Jonah Hill’s leaked text messages regarding what he wants in a partner.
But there is plenty wrong with women in society today.
Basic respect for your partner is now being labeled as “misogynistic” from insecure women.
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) July 8, 2023
“There is literally nothing with Jonah Hill’s leaked text messages regarding what he wants in a partner,” Owens tweeted. “But there is plenty wrong with women in society today. Basic respect for your partner is now being labeled as ‘misogynistic’ from insecure women.”
That scathing retort also saw its fair share of supporters, as evidenced by the responses below it. And yes, there were plenty of people who disagreed with it as well.
On the one hand, it’s certainly fair to lampoon Hill for asking for wife things on a girlfriend salary — but his requests otherwise do seem reasonable, no?
Look, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to the age-old question of “can men and women have purely platonic friendships?” But it ultimately comes down to what both parties in a relationship are comfortable with.
Hill clearly wasn’t comfortable with his paramour fraternizing with men, and expressed as much by offering an amicable end to the relationship should she not find those terms agreeable.
As for his other requests, they also largely follow the same vein — feel free to argue about whether or not you agree with his parameters, but you can’t deny that he was simply presenting them as such.
And sure, Hill’s entire tone has a manipulative tone to it, but no more so than a high school crush or a 3-year-old working over their parents.
Look, there’s no real clear answer here.
Were Hill’s requests unreasonable? This writer doesn’t think so, but also recognizes that’s largely a matter of personal preference.
But, even if you think acquiescing to his demands would set back women’s suffrage, you can’t argue that he didn’t present those requests in a perfectly calm manner.
It’s clear that Hill and Brady clearly weren’t right for each other and that’s perfectly fine. They were not engaged, let alone married or married with children, and they both took the off-ramp when the next exit came up.
It may have taken some not-very-fun texts to get to that point, but better late than never.
