Why Rachel Hollis' Latest Video Triggered A Huge Backlash

Author and motivational speaker Rachel Hollis is in hot water and she's not exactly helping her own cause. The drama began when she posted a now-deleted video to Instagram that referenced having a woman who "cleans her toilets" twice a week, as reported by Motherly. Hollis' followers were quick to describe these comments as "insensitive" and "unrelatable," especially at a time when so many people have taken a financial hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a video addressing the backlash, which has also been deleted, Hollis doubled down with a response comparing herself to Harriet Tubman (yes, really), per Relevant Magazine. "No, sis," Hollis said. "Literally everything I do in my life is to live a life that most people can't relate to. Most people won't work this hard." Yikes ... first of all there's the issue of grossly simplifying the correlation between work ethic and financial success, which is far more complex than Hollis acknowledges. 

But wait, it gets worse. As Hollis continued to explain why she doesn't want to be "relatable," she made some seriously eyebrow-raising comparisons. "Literally, every woman I admire in history was unrelatable," Hollis said in the video, per Motherly. "If my life is relatable to most people, I'm doing it wrong."

In the caption, Hollis provided a list of admired women who she described as "all unrelatable AF," including Amelia Earhart, Marie Curie, Malala Yousafzai, and Harriet Tubman (via Distractify).

Again, yikes. Hollis' followers were addressing her wealth and privilege, so to post a response comparing herself to a young girl who was shot in the head for getting an education and a woman born into slavery who repeatedly risked her life to help save others is pretty much the definition of tone-deaf.

Hollis gave it the old college try again on Easter Sunday with a statement that mainly blamed her PR team and didn't include an actual apology. "I didn't respond to these things on Friday when I heard that people were upset. I listened to my team instead of my gut," she said in the post (which has also since been deleted). "I listened when they told me not to respond, to let it blow over. I listened when they said they would monitor the situation — which meant monitor comments" (via Motherly).

Oof. On Monday Hollis posted a brief apology to Instagram without a caption. "I'm not going to do this perfectly but I'm going to speak from my heart," it read. "I'm so deeply sorry for the things I said in my recent posts and the hurt I have caused in the past few days."