The internet is scary – one minute you’re everyone’s favourite wall-crawler, and the next you’re cancelled for something that you didn’t even do!
That’s right, folks. Over the weekend, the hashtag #BoycottSpiderMan started trending. With Tom Holland having been busy making his rounds on shows and interviews to promote the third instalment of the Spiderman franchise, ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’, one would think it would have something to do with his famous inability to keep secrets. However, as it turns out, the boycott was the result of a tweet from Tom Holland – but not the 24-year-old British actor himself.
Another Tom Holland – the OG one, if you take his age into account – tweeted with regards to the name change of the world’s largest cricket stadium. Holland Sr (we’re just going to call him this to avoid confusion), a historian and cricketer, had sarcastically reacted to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to rename the venue from the Motera Stadium to the Narendra Modi stadium.
In his tweet, Holland Sr. sarcastically lauded Modi for the rebrand of the stadium.
However, his tongue in cheek comment was soon viewed as a “conspiracy” against the Prime Minister, with backlash amounting to ‘Spiderman’ Tom Holland being dragged through Twitter.
Hey this is India's internal matter😡 #boycottspiderman #IndiaAgainstPropaganda https://t.co/2aU2Y4v3T3
— Asur (@ModernAsur1) February 24, 2021
Now, the backlash isn’t exactly stemming from nothing, as only recently were celebrities like Rihanna and Greta Thunberg being slammed for supporting India’s farmers’ protests, also being told to say out of matters that didn’t concern them.
The older Holland has since apologised to ‘Spiderman’ Holland, saying that his timing was off with his tweet…
I had not realised that #BoycottSpiderman actually trended in India on the day that @TomHolland1996 was promoting his new film! My apologies to him as well. (Though it is quite funny…) https://t.co/RlBZJpntss
— Tom Holland (@holland_tom) February 26, 2021
He also added…
“Oh dear — I seem single-handedly to have destroyed prospects for the next Spider Man in India.”
All in all, the older Holland has seen the humour in the situation.
"Some rando Tom Holland".
The story of my life… https://t.co/vLNIF4AYNJ
— Tom Holland (@holland_tom) February 24, 2021
Let’s just hope the same can be said for poor ‘Spiderman’ Tom Holland.
*Cover image credits: Instagram/ Twitter