The great celebrity bathing debate ruled the summer of 2021. It started so innocent with Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis’s admission before snowballing into a battle of the haves and have nots of showering. Everyone was asked about their stance on the issue leading to some unfortunate casualties along the way. One of those Hollywood casualties was Spider-Man: Far from Home’s Jake Gyllenhaal. Some began to judge Gyllenhaal without hearing his full response. But that all changed as the Oscar nominee finally spoke his peace about those non-bathing rumors.
All this drama began after Jake Gyllenhaal was asked by Vanity Fair about his position on the great bathing debate. At that time, Gyllenhaal relayed he felt not bathing all the time was good for the skin. He did admit to maintaining good oral hygiene and manners when it came to being in public. Now, after some time, The Guilty star tried to correct viewers’ perception of his bathing habits.
After all the hoopla surrounding his interview, Jake Gyllenhaal seemed to brush off the backlash. But Gyllenhaal was somewhat bothered by the public’s perception. The Ambulance star responded to moviegoers’ feedback about his bathing routine.
I don’t know! I think someone asked me about my bathing routine — which I found to be a bit invasive. And so, my response was that I do it all, sometimes. And what I got back was that I don’t bathe.
Despite the public misconception, Jake Gyllenhaal took the backlash in stride. He chose to address it while channeling his inner salesman. Gyllenhaal joked with The Sunday Times about never receiving a complaint in his personal and professional life:
That’s OK — I’ve never been accused of being smelly. It’s fine. Of course, I bathe. In the Luna Rossa scent, daily.
At least, Jake Gyllenhaal was able to find a hilarious moment from the public backlash. A simple answer to a seemingly harmless question turned into a perception of Gyllenhaal that he hadn’t experienced before. It led to him going from one of Hollywood’s most desired stars to one of the dirtiest. As he pointed out, the question in retrospective was a little invasive. But that was Hollywood’s hottest topic at the time. Well, at least, the Donnie Darko alum never got a complaint about his hygiene.
Well, now, fans know Jake Gyllenhaal leans more toward The Rock category than Kristen Bell and Dax Sheppard’s side in the bathing debate. Hopefully, the Hollywood star has finally quelled those bathing misconceptions. Whether regular bathing is a part of his routine or not, it hasn’t stopped Gyllenhaal from being booked in Hollywood. He (and the rest of the world) can now move on from the topic never to speak of it again (maybe?).
