It has been a week for Melissa Joan Hart, and it’s only Thursday.
First she had to swallow the news that “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” was being reimagined as a dark “Riverdale”-esque show for the CW without her, and now she’s facing backlash for a seriously tone-deaf post about canceling her vacation due to Hurricane Maria.
“And just like that, our family vacation is canceled,” Hart captioned a screenshot of a weather alert that’s since been deleted. “Such a bummer but we plan to hit the @nickresortpuntacana resort another time this year.”
The alert read that the storm made landfall on the Caribbean island of Dominica as a Category 5 hurricane.
Hurricane Maria left reportedly “widespread devastation” in its wake in Dominica with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph, resulting in the deaths of at least 14 people, according to CNN. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were next to be hit, leaving the U.S. territories without any power.
Since Salem is no longer around to drag Hart on a regular basis, the internet happily complied, pointing out that on the “bummer” scale, canceling a vacation ranks pretty low compared to fighting for your life in the midst of a hurricane.
But Hart only doubled down on the insensitivity by posting a meme on Instagram that referenced the Pixar film “Moana,” writing, “Someone find Maui and take back the heart.”
“A little light humor, considering the devastation of recent natural events,” she captioned the photo. “God be with everyone affected by the storms, earthquakes, fires, droughts, etc.”
However, the actress seemed to realize her mistake later, sharing a heartfelt tribute to those impacted by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
Maybe now is a good time to put the phone down and start donating to the relief efforts, yeah?
