Actress Michelle Williams’ career includes everything from Oscar-nominated performances in “Manchester by the Sea,” “My Week With Marilyn,” “Blue Valentine” and “Brokeback Mountain” to a starring role in the bible of your formative years, “Dawson’s Creek,” to a superhero-adjacent part as Anne Weying in the alternate universe Spider-Man story “Venom.”
And with all that, you might have missed her stint as a member of a popular late ’90s girl group — nay, the popular late ’90s girl group. At least, according to Google.
Advertisement
On Friday, a Twitter user noticed that in a Google search for “destiny’s child five members,” a picture of Michelle Williams (the actress) ― and not Michelle Williams (the actual Destiny’s Child singer) ― pops up.
Googled the original 5 members of Destiny’s Child and the disrespect of Michelle Williams continues on into 2018 pic.twitter.com/aPBrSY0b0o
At first, this seemed too ridiculous to be real. So I put it to the test, and the same result occurred. In fact, I even searched “destiny’s child original members,” and the Oscar nominee kept showing up as a Beyoncé collaborator.
For the record, Michelle Williams (the singer) was in the later Destiny’s Child lineup, not the original, which included Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett. So really, zero Michelle Williamses should show up when Googling the original Destiny’s Child members, let alone the Michelle Williams who says she’d be cool coming back as a ghost to haunt the “Dawson’s Creek” kids.
Advertisement
Alas, there she was, in a mobile search ...
... in a desktop search ...
... it was crazier than when it’s 11:30 and the club is jumpin’, jumpin’.
In a call with Michelle Williams (the actress) on Friday for “Venom,” I asked what it was like being a part of Google’s version of Destiny’s Child. And like the girl group once sang, it is apparently just emotion taking her over.
“It gets me one step closer to Beyoncé, so I’m pretty good with it,” she said. “Now I’ll have an ice breaker if I ever get to meet Beyoncé. I’ll talk to her about the old days of Destiny’s Child. So thank you because I’ll obviously be tongue-tied if and when that ever happens, and now I’ll know exactly what to say.”
Advertisement
Williams has never met Michelle Williams (the singer), but this isn’t the first time one has been confused for the other.
“My daughter is an enormous Stevie Wonder fan, and we went to a Stevie Wonder concert,” the actress recalled, “and when I was in line to pick up our tickets, the guy said, ‘No, you’re not,’ and I said, ‘I am. I’m Michelle Williams,’ and he said, ‘No, you’re not.’ And I said, ‘I really am.’ I showed him my ID, and he said, ‘Oh, that Michelle Williams. I just assumed that it was gonna be ... Oh cool. What?’”
Speaking of “Independent Women,” here’s how Williams described her “Venom” character, Anne: “It was really important to me that the film felt pinned to this year, from my character’s perspective that it felt pinned to 2017 and 2018, and that we had an example of a woman that knew her own worth and knew it enough to ask for it. ... When [Tom Hardy’s character Eddie Brock] transgresses, she holds him accountable. She doesn’t let him walk all over her.”
She continued, “What I was thinking about today is that it’s so reflective in all the pop music that my daughter and I listen to in the car when we’re driving places. It’s all of this like, ‘Hey, Baby. I’m worth it’ ... ‘No, you can’t have all this if you don’t respect all this.’ That’s the message that’s out there on the radio, and that’s really what I wanted to embody in this moment in time in Anne and in this movie.”
OK, back to Destiny’s Child. Subsequent Google searches this week were a mixed bag. At first, it appeared that the online anomaly had been corrected. The picture of Michelle Williams (the actress) wasn’t appearing alongside pictures of the actual women in the group at the top of results. Then, in a subsequent search in incognito mode (which is how I did all the desktop searches since it disables browsing history and storage), Williams made her pop music comeback.
Advertisement
So don’t be surprised if Williams’ photo appears in search results if you’re Googling the girl group in the future, because like the Destiny’s Child song, it’s a survivor. It’ll keep on surviving.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.