Jann Arden unleashed a troubling and bizarre flurry of vitriol this week by tweeting four words: “Erin is a Tool.”
The singer, podcast host and star of the aptly-named comedy series Jann was referring to the newly-elected Conservative Party of Canada leader, Erin O’Toole.
“Didn’t think folks would go quite so bonkers,” Arden admitted, in a reply to someone who commented on her Aug. 24th tweet.
Go bonkers they did, calling Arden “irrelevant” as well as an “idiot,” “bitch,” “cow” and a “c**t.”
Keeping the river of hate in perspective, Arden decided to have some fun on Tuesday by retweeting, and responding to, many of the comments.
While some who were singled out scrambled for aloe vera to treat the burns, others deleted their brave and profound words.
Someone pointed out that O’Toole graduated from the Royal Military College and opined that “most pple wouldn’t last 1 week at RMC.” Arden clapped back: “I was a Girl Guide for two days. So there.”
To a man who called her “irrelevant,” Arden replied: “You get that this is weird right? That you contacting me is ironic and creepy right?” She told another who hit her with the same zinger: “Why are you reading my tweets and writing to me? You silly man.”
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Arden’s response to someone who let her know they were “disappointed” with her comments? “And I’m disappointed in your comments. We are even.”
During her retweet spree, Arden observed that “Calling someone a Tool is the worst insult EVER TO APPEAR ON SOCIAL MEDIA” and joked: “Tool. Tools are handy. We all need tools.”
Last year, Arden spoke to iHeartRadio.ca about being outspoken on social media and admitted there have been a few “missteps” where she “probably should have counted to 10” before tweeting.
"Twitter is kind of forever,” she said. “Once in awhile I step into it but that’s the magic of social media. I think I do more good than bad.”
Arden says she’s sworn off using “derogatory, offensive language” to describe anyone. “There’s a better way to do it. I’m smarter than that,” she says. “But we live in dangerous times and I think sometimes you have to step out on a ledge and say things that get people’s attention.”
Here’s a look at some of Arden's best comebacks:
Jann airs on CTV, whose parent company Bell Media also owns this website.