The month of July is one for sun, sand and swimsuits. However, one former Baywatch star recently revealed she got a lot of flack after donning swimwear as one of the myriad celebrities to post Fourth of July content earlier this month. Donna D’Errico recently opened up about the reactions to the red, white and blue look she’d worn and also posted another stunning bikini selfie in direct defiance of the naysayers.
D’Errico, 54, has maintained great fitness since starring as Donna Marco in Baywatch and Baywatch Nights. The previously blonde actress has been known to take a bikini selfie or two on social media, but after her Fourth of July post it seems she dealt with more trolling than usual from people who said she was “too old” to be rocking a bikini. Meanwhile, her response had a thoughtful caption, but I kind of think the Instagram image speaks for itself:
In the post, Donna D'Errico wrote that she actually heard a lot of feedback from other women when she crafted her Fourth of July post. It comes off that it was a bit of a surprise to the mom of two, but being trolled by people who don't know her personally doesn't seem to have changed her mind about wearing what she feels comfortable in. She said, "I can actually wear and do literally whatever I want."
She's kept the original post up on her Reels, where you can check out the look that turned heads and caused some commenters to be very direct in their opinion. (Although to note many of the top posts were fire emojis and generally positive responses.)
Ageism in Hollywood is something that plenty of celebrities have touched on over the years. Lady Gaga spoke about aging in the industry recently, sharing how she has often feels like “my face has to be frozen in time in order to get a job.’ She also shared that the “community” of women she spends time with can generally relate to these feelings. And Helen Mirren has been candid about studios wanting to cast younger actresses.
There’s flack women take on social media as they age too, as D’Errico has shown with this post. Fellow co-star Carmen Electra, 50, also often rocks bikini looks. And model Paulina Porizkova, 57, actually touched on ageism recently with her own bikini post. In that case, she clapped back noting:
Because old is ugly. I get comments like these every time I post a photo of my body. This is the ageist shaming that sets my teeth on edge. Older men are distinguished, older women are ugly. People who believe prettiness equals beauty do not understand beauty. Pretty is easy on the eyes, partly because it’s a little bland, inoffensive. It’s easy to take in and easy to forget
The good news? Halle Berry and plenty of other celebrities have strategies for standing up to trolling, and it doesn't seem to be getting either of these women down, either. Years after Baywatch first hit our TV schedules, D'Errico looks great and doesn’t really seem to give a wit about what the naysayers are saying.
