Can't a guy go skiing with his girlfriend without stirring up a bunch of Internet controversy? Not if he's a Formula One driver, and not at the moment, apparently. The world of racing is supposedly "outraged" at Lewis Hamilton's vacation pics as Michael Schumacher lies in the hospital.
The retired F1 ace remains in a coma following a skiing accident that led to a head injury in France. But over Christmas, Hamilton went skiing with on-again, off-again girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger and his adorable dogs, and, as people do, posted pics of the trip on Instagram.
But according to Britain's self-appointed moral barometer, The Daily Mail, this act has caused a great deal of outrage among people who think Hamilton should have been more sensitive to Schumacher's situation by holding off on sharing his skiing pics.
On social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram, some users said the photographs were in 'bad taste'.
Comments included 'Shame on you' and 'very insensitive given a certain ex race driver's current condition in hospital'. Another wrote: 'He really should think a little and take these down before it harms his good name.'
I'm just going to call this manufactured controversy what it really is: unfathomably stupid. So what if Hamilton posted some photos from a ski trip, and one he probably had planned for a while? It's not like he tweeted them out with the message "I went skiing and didn't put myself in a coma because I'm BETTER THAN SCHUMI!"
There's plenty of reasons to dislike Hamilton, but he didn't do anything wrong here. Dumb fake controversy is dumb.
As for Schumacher, he remains in a coma but his condition is said to be improving, which is great news. Ferrari has organized a vigil to be held tomorrow, on the champion's 45th birthday, at Grenoble University Hospital Centre where he is being treated.
That seems a bit odd since Schumacher's own family has asked for privacy while he recovers, but hey. People just want to see him get better.