© Mike Coppola / GETTY IMAGES / AFP
Midler, 72, is widely known as both an environmental and civil rights activist as well as a self-declared ally of marginalized groups in society. However, her past good behavior did not spare her from the baying Twitter mob Thursday night.
Midler initially defended the tweet by drawing attention to the cause-du-jour, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, while also claiming she was invoking the sentiments of Yoko Ono, who infamously penned a song with her late husband John Lennon called 'Woman is the N***er of the world', in 1972.
It wasn't long before the tidal wave of backlash forced her into an embarrassing climbdown mere hours later in which she deleted the offending tweets and apologized.
Once again, however, backlash was immediate, intense and unrelenting. She was then accused of 'whitesplaining' as a means of damage limitation.
