Kelly Stafford, wife of Detroit Lions QB, recants after calling Michigan a 'dictatorship'
Kelly Stafford apologized Thursday for lashing out over the fact the state she lives in has placed restrictions for trying tamp down covid-19 numbers.
Stafford, the wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford, ripped Michigan in a social media posting that went viral when she said she was “over living in a dictatorship.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer earlier this week ordered high schools and colleges to stop in-person classes, closed restaurants to indoor dining and suspended organized sports in a bid to flatten the state’s spiking coronavirus cases. Movie theaters, casinos, arcades and group fitness classes were also required to shut down.
The three-week pause started Wednesday.
Kelly Stafford is over living “in a dictatorship that we call Michigan.” pic.twitter.com/ovGcoNkJ4j
— Evan Jankens (@KINGoftheKC) November 19, 2020
“I understand there’s a pandemic, and I understand it’s very scary,” Stafford railed in her video. “I’m scared of it, too. If you are at risk, do not leave your house until there’s a vaccine. But shutting down all these small businesses — things that people have worked their life for — shutting them down again is not the answer, because they will not make it. So once we are able to leave our house, once this dictatorship decides to let us have some freedom, there will be nothing left.”
After taking loads of heat online, the former University of Georgia cheerleader decided to recant.
On an Instagram post, Stafford wrote, “should never have used the word ‘dictatorship.’ “i got caught up in the heat of the moment, that is my fault. i don’t know the answer and i won’t pretend to.”
She added in another post that “I love Michigan and the people here … Don’t get that twisted in this. This place was my rock during my tough times.”
Kelly Stafford thinks living in Michigan is like being in a "dictatorship" because of COVID-19 restrictions. In related news, her husband is an NFL quarterback who makes $27 million a year and has never won a playoff game https://t.co/sUGgm5SLtY
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) November 19, 2020
Matthew Stafford, a 12-year veteran, was placed on the reserve/covid-19 list twice this year. He had one false-positive test before the season started.
Michigan reported 7,592 new cases on Thursday and 134 new deaths, bringing the totals to 285,398 and 8,324, respectively, according to data from the state’s public health agency.
I really don't love Kelly Stafford complaining about Michigan being a dictatorship when Gretchen Whitmer was already the subject of a kidnapping and assassination plot simply for trying to flatten the curve and keep Michiganders safe.
— Jeanna Kelley (@jeannathomas) November 19, 2020
If Kelly Stafford was being honest during her entitled Michigan meltdown. pic.twitter.com/jxphFRkgIj
— heathergtv (@heathergtv) November 19, 2020
Kelly Stafford, wife of Detroit Lions' QB, Matthew Stafford, is tired of being a virtual prisoner in her home! She says she shouldn't be restricted just to protect stupid public health. I wish I could be a "prisoner" in her $6.5M home. Get out of MI then, Kelly! #ToneDeaf pic.twitter.com/T1iE4vPLWr
— NonScalableBlueWall (@Time2BeRUTHless) November 19, 2020
Bret Gibson is a TribLive digital producer. A South Hills resident, he started working for the Trib in 1998. He can be reached at bgibson@triblive.com.
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