Michael Madsen ignited a scandal on Wednesday night's Celebrity Big Brother when he branded actress Denise Welch 'emotionally disturbed'.
The Reservoir Dogs actor, 54, made the cutting comment during a shock round of face-to-face live nominations that Big Brother had sprung on stunned housemates shortly after 26-year-old model Georgia Salpa's eviction.
Madsen, who has constantly rowed with Loose Women presenter Welch, opened his nominations with the words: 'I can’t stand another minute in this house with Denise'. Glamour girl Nicola McLean stifled a giggle at his typical bluntness, but the laughter soon turned to disbelief as he continued with a dig at his nemesis' mental stability.
Welch, who has been publicly open about her lifelong struggle with depression, was left distraught by the comment. Close friend Natalie Cassidy leapt to her defence and fumed: 'Honestly, I will not talk to him now, I will be polite but I won’t talk to him,' while X Factor reject Frankie Cocozza agreed: 'That was so evil.'
Madsen, who has in the past raised concerns for his own mental health, later admitted he'd made a poor choice of words and seemed to regret his flippancy.
This is a classic example of how easy it is to unwittingly hurt someone with an off-the-cuff remark that strikes alarmingly close to the truth. Terms like 'mental' and 'crazy' are often used to describe odd or annoying behaviour, but they traditionally characterise much more serious medical conditions.
Casual use of such phrases trivialises genuine disorders and can be misconstrued as cruel insensitivity rather than exasperation at someone you simply don't get on with.
I don't think Madsen meant any harm. I think he spoke before he thought and forgot he was aiming his insult at someone who actually suffered from a mental health problem. It just goes to show how carefully we must choose our words and the pitfalls of colloquialising such sensitive terminology.
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