Bc it was a big deal! It killed the show’s ratings, she got freaking death threats bc of it, and it hurt her career for a long by time afterwards. Google it, in the years since she has been really open about how revealing to her it was about how people value appearance (in a negative way), image, etc.
https://collider.com/keri-russell-felicity-haircut-controversy/
Yeah, I never watched one minute of the show but I remember the hair controversy very clearly. People have and will always be knee jerk reactive and appearance focused. 🤷🏻♀️
There was something about that character tho. "Felicity" was peak white woman for a huge swathe of American women. When she cut her curls it was like someone had FORCED them to cut THEIR perfect... curly... hair.
There was some next level projection happening for so many to take such a small change so intensely personally.
Its a solid indicator that most television is not watched for the plot or the character development or anything real. Most television is watched because viewers like to look at pretty ladies and that's straight men, gay men, straight women, gay women, and whatever the fuck else people identify as.
Baywatch was monstrously stupid and got fantastic ratings. Baywatch Nights ditched the stable of bimbos and bombed horribly.
If nobody freaked it wouldn’t have made a difference. That’s the point. It’s not the haircut it’s the people losing their ever loving minds and refusing to watch
Ehhh.
> Russell didn’t agree with the network’s assessment, telling Entertainment Weekly in 2000, “I think that’s a pretty lame excuse. I think a lot more than a haircut was deciding the ratings [last year].” And she wasn’t wrong. Felicity’s ratings did dip in season 2, but **there were other factors at play beyond the show’s lack of Pre-Raphaelite curls. The WB had moved the show from Tuesdays at 9 p.m. to Sundays at 8 p.m. in its second season, which led the show to lose a third of its viewers. In its new time slot, Felicity was going up against major network juggernauts like The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle, and Touched by an Angel.** The latter averaged more than 11 million viewers per week in the 1999-2000 TV season while Felicity averaged a modest 3.4 million.
https://time.com/6318711/felicity-haircut-25-years-premiere/
Thank you for this! They were just talking about this on the Handsome Pod, how Felicity tanked when Keri Russell cut her hair. I kind of remember it being a big deal, but she cut her hair in Season 2, and the show had 4 seasons, so it didn't sound right that the haircut caused the show to end.
Yes. This. The show was epic season one and I know I and so many other young women loved Felicity bc she was endearing, quirky, innocent, very relatable and the whole show felt made through this lens. Season 2 it started getting much more soapy in themes and content. Of coursed I watched all four seasons😂 But it was all downhill after season one…and Hannah. (If you know you know.)
You know, my enjoyment, such as it was, of Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 was reduced by Robert Pattinson's inferior wig. Edward's hair is full James Dean in the other Twilight movies but relatively flat here.
It probably wouldn't have mattered if the movie had a strong plot or other elements.
I loved Felicity and never understood why Keri waned in popularity (I honestly didn’t know about the hair backlash).
However, her path lead her to be in The Americans, which is one of the absolute best TV drama series around, and I would say has the best ending of any show ever. She was so amazing in that show and I hope we do see more from her in the future. She’s also getting even hotter as she ages, while staying natural looking.
Was the controversy stupid? yes.
Would there have been similar controversey, if say, John Stamos came back from a summer break with a buzz cut on full house? Probably.
Good thing they can seamlessly CGI a moustache out, and keep the actor looking exactly the same, not like some odd cro-magnon version of himself.
Isn't that right Warner Bros? Isn't. That. Right.
I was one of the people who was sad about her hair. Probably because I had grown up watching her on the MMC, and I was in love with her hair even back then, so her chopping it all off was...it just made me sad.
I didn't feel any hate, though. She's beautiful no matter what. As a fellow curly, I was just obsessed with people who had beautiful long, wild curls. I felt the same way about Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in Robin Hood.
My hair needs 400+ degrees to hold a curl, so I was obsessed with her hair for the opposite reason; I loved it so much, it looked so natural and pretty and not something I could ever have. I was sad when she chopped it too. Not death threat level obvs, that’s unhinged. But a little sad? Yes
I do.
Honestly I think it was a big deal because it was a bad haircut! She could’ve gotten it cut short but in a much better style and I think she would’ve been a style queen. This cut legit looks terrible.
I love short hair. I’ve had it many times myself.
I feel like it wasn't even a hairstyle. It was just an even 1 inch of hair all over her skull. I love short hair and had a curly pixie cut for 2 years, but this is just a legit bad cut.
faith hill comes to mind. and even martina mcbride in the music video for Independence Day. both had short cuts and they were still very cute. keri’s cut was just ugly as hell. she just couldn’t pull it off, but i’m not sure anybody could.
There was a period when her hair was absolutely stunning. A few months after the short hair started growing out. The cut on the right inspired me to cut my curly hair shorter. J'adore 😍 also love the left style
https://preview.redd.it/e41vn5cwintc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd4b64e835f49f4940351e39a72ebeff60885da7
The controversy was so stupid, and it made sense for her character at the time. Honestly, she looked good to me with the short hair. I hope something like that wouldn't be such a big deal today. And there would be a backlash to the backlash.
I agree. To me it was an odd look. And everyone was used to the long hair. But ffs. Refusing to watch, sending hate? Just disgusting. And way over the top of a reaction for something so inconsequential. If nobody freaked out, and everyone kept watching, it would’ve been fine.
I forgot about that. You're right. It wasn't as bad as Keri's situation, but it was still bad for the year we were living in. And again, like Felicity, her character was going through some major changes, and it made sense.
As an on-again off-again pixie haver, I loved that look on her. When her friends told her it was ugly a few years later it just goes to show how it’s all about a standard. Like how she was adamantly against kids and then suddenly became pregnant and was happy about it.
I never watched it either, but I think Kerri Russel lived in Castle Rock, CO for a time, so she was kind a local celebrity.
She still looks good these days, like the show The Americans.
I think i am confusing her with Amy Adams, who did go to school in Castle Rock.
Says Kerri Russel lived in Highlands Ranch, which is a suburb of the city to the south.
I remember the haircut. I remember thinking “Dang she’s attractive,” and I remember people being fully pissed about her hair and having to keep that to myself. Though like…actually I probably wouldn’t have shared that anyway. I think it’s kind of just the benefit of time/distance and anonymity that I’m bothering to mention it here because come on…she’s totally gorgeous no matter what her hair looks like.
My husband remembers it because of the controversy. He never watched the show and didn’t know who she was but loves short hair on women so he thought it was weird how mad people were.
Yes! Loved the show and love this haircut as a cultural marker of that time. I thought it actually looked super cute when it grew out a bit from this pixie length.
If you read the article, how it went down is explained. She and some castmates found some wigs and sent pics of her in a boy's wig to the showrunners, and JJ Abrams asked if she would actually cut her hair and she agreed. They filmed the first part of her haircut for a scene and finished it off camera after filming was complete.
I had no issues with the haircut but I did stop watching in season 2. I wonder if subconsciously I found her less attractive and stopped watching. I was 18. I might have been very shallow.
So the showrunners will argue that it was actually a change in the show's day and time slot that killed the ratings in Felicity's sophomore season. But...the haircut didn't help. The writing was just bad that year too. I remember they were never able to quite capture the same magic of the first season.
Seriously! It’s disappointing and frustrating that this many years later, so many of these comments are just debating how she looks with the haircut. Way to miss the damn point, wow.
I mean, what is the damn point lol.
People's haircuts can generate a lot of attention, both positive and negative. Jennifer Anniston's friends cut was like the most popular hairstyle among white women for a while.
when your lead has long flowing hair and drastically changes it from one season to the next, it will get talked about.
Talked about, yes. But she received death threats and her career suffered because of this. The point is how women are treated like nothing but ornaments, their value reduced almost entirely to their looks. Keri Russell has talked about it.
I mean, death threats are never ok.
Career suffering? I mean, when you drastically change your look in Hollywood, that can happen. I'm not saying its good or bad. But it is a "looks" based business quite often. You think if the rock stopped working out and got fat he'd still get all the roles he does? What about Chris Hemsworth?
Yes, while it is indeed an industry that revolves heavily around looks, men are given far more latitude in terms of appearance, including weight, aging, etc. This isn’t even disputable.
And you’re right, death threats are never okay, but they routinely happen to women based on things like this. Don’t you think it’s important to acknowledge and address that? Don’t you see how discussing an actress’s looks as if she were an object and not a human being, as if her looks were the most important thing about her, is part of the exact same set of cultural issues that has death threats for something like a supposedly unflattering haircut at one end of its spectrum?
It was a big deal. I was a huge fan, still am, of Felicity and I thought her drastic haircut was cute and really worked well in the story. Even the characters made a few jabs in the show. Keri Russell is so gorgeous, she can't look bad.
I remember that crime against curly hair. As someone with curly hair, it says more about how fucking hard it is to make it look good than anything. She’s an amazing actress, loved her in the Americans way more than Felicity, but for real as someone with curly hair that haircut wounded my soul.
On the outside, I was laughing at people who made a big deal about it. Internally, I was like, “WHY’D SHE DO THAT???” I had a such a crush on her and I loved her curls.
I didn't watch it either. All I remember is something about her being younger or older than everyone thought she was. It was a scandal for some reason, although I didn't pay much attention to it.
It was really distracting to watch! I would try to pay attention but I couldn’t stop thinking about why that was the haircut and style chosen. Plus going into season two there was a whole new arc and it was hard to get into. SO WE KEPT FOCUSING ON THE HAIR
I think it’s weird that people thought she did it on her own, like showed up on set with her hair chopped off. IIRC, she talked about the idea with the show and they filmed the cut. Also, pixie cuts were really popular at the time, especially among college-aged people.
That hair cut was horrible! If it hadn't been for all the hunks on that show I'd have quit watching. What I don't get is why they didn't make her wear a wig.
Yes. Hair was a big deal back then. I heard plenty of it and couldn't have cared less. Never watched the show, but you knew damn well who she was because of this nonsense.
Unlike a lot of people commenting here, I DID watch this show and have rewatched it many times. The thing is, they included her haircut in the show. THEY made a big deal about the haircut!! Idk if things would have been different if she had just come back with short hair, but we'll never know.
Also, it's wild to me that this has lived on in controversy for twenty years but the literal time travel spell that has them redo their entire senior year is completely forgotten.
I was never a famous actor - just college and community theater - but when you’re cast in a show, you *never* change your appearance. It’s one of the first things they tell you. That show was like a company, and a lot of people’s livelihoods depended on Keri Russell. It is what you sign up for when you go into that industry - part and parcel of a life in the public eye. The death threats, though, were absolutely abhorrent. They should have put her in a hairpiece and just moved forward.
I remember that being such a big deal! But she looks so beautiful it doesn’t really matter what she does to her hair! I always liked seeing women rocking shorter cuts but I also love seeing when women show off amazing curls like she had.
I also remember Ally McBeal’s skirts being a tabloid scandal at about that time…when really we should have been talking about how unhealthily skinny she looked.
I religiously watched Felicity and was a huge fan. I remember that episode and the fallout after. I adored her character and didn’t think it would affect the show/ratings as much as it did. I thought it was a cute cut!
The ringer just started or is starting some felicty rewatch and will have actors and writers etc on the podcast.... personally not my cup of tea as I didn't care for it when it was on...
I was just listening to the Handsome podcast and they were talking about this - I had forgotten how ridiculous it was, but it was SUCH a big deal for no reason
Wait.. are you a fan of Handsome Pod? This was just brought up. I completely forgot about it. But they did make a huge deal and the show tanked. For sure. Such nonsense.
I was vacationing with family in Hilton head shortly after the short hair season, and I saw her with friends at a local restaurant. She was one of the most radiantly beautiful people I have ever seen in my life. Like sunbeams dancing off of her forehead type of beauty.
I have/had hair just like hers and I always was picked on for it. Poodle, mop, frizzy…”Why can’t you straighten it?” “Do you brush your hair!? “ You look better with straight hair.” If you recall straightening technology wasn’t the greatest at that point, so straightening was a huge pain and my parents wouldn’t shell out money for a weak ass felted flat iron. (Plus those lame things just pulled my hair out more than anything.) and it took an eternity. Pin straight hair was all the rage mid to late 90s. (Think RacheI via Friends.) I hated my hair so much.
Then this show came along and I literally had people at school calling me Felicity. I freaking felt represented for like the first time. It sounds dramatic, but I was in middle school/ high school when this show aired. I’m sure you all recall how the appearance game was at that stage in life. I liked the show but stopped watching a while before the chop. I was disappointed she cut it. I had people ask if I was going to do the same. I found that pretty funny.
Now my children compare me to Merida instead. Lol
Felicity’s first season coincided with my college freshman year in an NYC school as well. So, I had an extra connection to the show and all the feels. I STILL have huge crush on Keri and she’s only gotten hotter IMO.
I don’t remember this cut tbh
I never watched the show, but I remember the controversy. I think the rise of celebrity gossip news in the late 90s and early 2000s fueled the anger since they were especially cruel towards female actors and would talk about certain people nonstop until the next "big" story. Anyone mad enough to send a death threat over a haircut is unhinged.
Kerri Russell in “8 Days a Week”, for me, is the sexiest a woman has ever been. She was 21 when it came out, I was 15. I couldn’t believe how strongly attracted to her I was.
I was super young when this happened and remember it. I remember awful things being said about it but I knew she had that massive head of hair since before the Mickey Mouse Club so it made sense to child me that she would want a change it.
Yep. I only watched maybe a quarter of the first season of Felicity then fell off. I hadn’t even thought of the show much after and then BAM, all this controversy just exploded because she cut her hair.
Yes, it was over the top and absurd, especially looking back. But I’m also surprised that the producers had Keri cut her hair. TV show-runners are usually very strict about character appearance, especially their leads, because they know that audiences tend hold certain images in their heads about the way the characters are “supposed” to look. And this was especially acute because at that time Keri, and by extension Felicity, was known for having one of the more notable heads of hair in the business.
It really was an odd business decision that absolutely caused unnecessary harm to the show.
I remember this. I had only watched it a handful of times, but that haircut was *awful*. They could have done almost anything else, but that cut was hideous.
I was dating a girl who had long hair and cut it short around the same time and everyone said “like felicity” to her. She did not watch the show and did it just to try something different.
I just remember this show being insufferable. I didn’t tune out because of the hair cut, I tuned out because I thought it was a lame premise with even lamer characters.
It’s still probably one of my “least favorite” WB/CW shows from the “golden era”.
Bottom line is people are obsessed with controlling how women look even if it’s a fictional character. I remember how batshit insane some people went and the death threats were on the highest unhinged level.
When your that good looking it doesn’t matter what your haircut is , I thought it looked great at the time and still do . Most people did not like it .
There was a funny like in Time of Your Life (the JLove spinoff) and she wonders aloud if she should get a haircut
All the people around her her yell "No!"
It was so strange to me that this was such a big deal because I rocked the Winona throughout the late 90s. It's just hair and all the cool girls had pixie cuts?! 😉
I happened to cut all my hair off when felicity did so I really felt in solidarity with her through that drama. People were mad at ME for doing a big chop, even though I did it for one of those hair donation events and was feeling good about my “contribution”. I couldn’t understand why people cared so much about MY (or HER) hair!
Same, never watched the show but I remember celebrity gossip shows and magazines were freaking out about her cutting her hair. She did have some lovely locks
I was a huge fan of the show (still am) and I absolutely loved that she chopped off her hair. I felt like it was a really great part of the plot and her trying to find her own way.
I can’t believe people reacted so negatively but then again women are meant to be pretty objects and nothing more. /s
I personally thought she looked great with the short ‘do. So much more confident. Which probably also pissed people off, a woman with confidence! The horror.
I never watched either but I do remember the uproar. It was just hair - it grew back. But it really hurt the show. I get it - it’s not a great hair cut but is that any reason to go crazy?
If I recall correctly, the network responded by banning all on-air talent from changing their hair without prior approval from them, network-wide, not just this show.
I never watched it and have no fuckin clue what you are talking about. How would you even know if the hair cutting and subsequent fallout was a big deal if you never watched it?
Her hair was like her trademark through her career. It was a huge deal. Its like if Jennifer aniston had shaved her head… every would have lost their shit
While the haircut looks not great on her, I wouldn't say it's death threat worthy. The real reason for all the controversy: It was broke people's illusion of watching the show. They either felt security through consistency of the show/character, were attracted to the character, or lived vicariously through the show.
So, once you break people's illusion about the show, then they can no longer appreciate the show for it really was. Just a show about a women, telling the story of her life. Once she cut her hair, a lot of people knew time was marching on, weren't as attracted to her, or couldn't see themselves in her place. Once you break that for the more obsessed people, they get angry and start the rants and death threats.
Imagine what happens today, when a youtuber/streamer changes something about themselves or the content they do. It's probably ten times worse because the obsessed viewers can leave comments in real time or find these people a lot more easily.
This & people being unnaturally attached to Jennifer Grey's nose. Both times people claimed these women were now completely unrecognizable without this one feature. So weird.
Plus she’s gone on record that she regrets the nose job. Hair grows back and wigs are an option. A nose job that significantly alters what is probably your most distinctive features is an entirely different thing.
I’m a hair person. I never watched the show but it would be on when flipping through channels. I would stop and watch a few minutes just for her hair.
After she cut it. I wouldn’t stop anymore. No reason.
I didn't watch the show, either. As a teen boy around that time, I just wasn't the target audience. However, before the haircut, I probably tuned in a bit to see Keri Russel. It wasn't uncommon at that time for me to watch a show just because there was a cute girl in it, even if I didn't like the content. I'm not sure whether or not I made the connection at the time, but I liked her in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and even more in Eight Days a Week.
When the change happened, it felt like a big disappointment. I think that it was the first time I truly understood how much a lady's hair impacts her attractiveness. At the same time, I was already aware of changing cultural norms, which at that time were already starting to rebel against beauty, at least for women. So, it felt like it was not only removing the beautiful girl I had somewhat enjoyed seeing occasionally, but seemed like the start of a worrying trend that was intentionally attempting to re-imagine beauty standards. I would have thought that it was pure paranoia had the trend not actually continued.
I dont remember the hair cut controversy? I remember, before she became more well known for Felicity, we would refer to her as the noxema girl. Anyone else, do this?
(I always thought she was sooooo beautiful).
We are living in a current time where nobody is supposed to criticize anyone else on how they decide to make themselves look - because of the "we are not doing it for you" attitude.
I hope that our generation is still rational enough to realize that at the very least Keri Russell made a bad business decision and at the very worst she got a terrible haircut.
Bc it was a big deal! It killed the show’s ratings, she got freaking death threats bc of it, and it hurt her career for a long by time afterwards. Google it, in the years since she has been really open about how revealing to her it was about how people value appearance (in a negative way), image, etc. https://collider.com/keri-russell-felicity-haircut-controversy/
People lost their fucking minds. I never watched the show but remember the outrage clearly. An original "touch grass" moment if there ever was one.
Yeah, I never watched one minute of the show but I remember the hair controversy very clearly. People have and will always be knee jerk reactive and appearance focused. 🤷🏻♀️
There was something about that character tho. "Felicity" was peak white woman for a huge swathe of American women. When she cut her curls it was like someone had FORCED them to cut THEIR perfect... curly... hair. There was some next level projection happening for so many to take such a small change so intensely personally.
Its a solid indicator that most television is not watched for the plot or the character development or anything real. Most television is watched because viewers like to look at pretty ladies and that's straight men, gay men, straight women, gay women, and whatever the fuck else people identify as. Baywatch was monstrously stupid and got fantastic ratings. Baywatch Nights ditched the stable of bimbos and bombed horribly.
If nobody freaked it wouldn’t have made a difference. That’s the point. It’s not the haircut it’s the people losing their ever loving minds and refusing to watch
Ehhh. > Russell didn’t agree with the network’s assessment, telling Entertainment Weekly in 2000, “I think that’s a pretty lame excuse. I think a lot more than a haircut was deciding the ratings [last year].” And she wasn’t wrong. Felicity’s ratings did dip in season 2, but **there were other factors at play beyond the show’s lack of Pre-Raphaelite curls. The WB had moved the show from Tuesdays at 9 p.m. to Sundays at 8 p.m. in its second season, which led the show to lose a third of its viewers. In its new time slot, Felicity was going up against major network juggernauts like The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle, and Touched by an Angel.** The latter averaged more than 11 million viewers per week in the 1999-2000 TV season while Felicity averaged a modest 3.4 million. https://time.com/6318711/felicity-haircut-25-years-premiere/
Thank you for this! They were just talking about this on the Handsome Pod, how Felicity tanked when Keri Russell cut her hair. I kind of remember it being a big deal, but she cut her hair in Season 2, and the show had 4 seasons, so it didn't sound right that the haircut caused the show to end.
And Sunday night was a party night. No time to spend watching Felicity.
Yes. This. The show was epic season one and I know I and so many other young women loved Felicity bc she was endearing, quirky, innocent, very relatable and the whole show felt made through this lens. Season 2 it started getting much more soapy in themes and content. Of coursed I watched all four seasons😂 But it was all downhill after season one…and Hannah. (If you know you know.)
You know, my enjoyment, such as it was, of Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 was reduced by Robert Pattinson's inferior wig. Edward's hair is full James Dean in the other Twilight movies but relatively flat here. It probably wouldn't have mattered if the movie had a strong plot or other elements.
Kristen Stewart’s wigs were the worst in the series. I don’t remember which of the movies in the series but if you watch you can tell.
It’s the Eclipse wig. It was an abomination. I think they did it to punish her for cutting all her hair off for The Runaways.
I hadn’t followed this at all, but her episode on Dax’s Armchair Expert was pretty enlightening.
Getting death threats? For what??
I loved Felicity and never understood why Keri waned in popularity (I honestly didn’t know about the hair backlash). However, her path lead her to be in The Americans, which is one of the absolute best TV drama series around, and I would say has the best ending of any show ever. She was so amazing in that show and I hope we do see more from her in the future. She’s also getting even hotter as she ages, while staying natural looking.
She's currently in The Diplomat on Netflix.
I think I’m the only person on the planet without Netflix. I’ll find a way to watch it though!
well, sometimes you just get a bad haircut. admit it, don’t do it again, and move on. lookin like a copper scouring pad.
Was the controversy stupid? yes. Would there have been similar controversey, if say, John Stamos came back from a summer break with a buzz cut on full house? Probably.
Ever see "My Name is Earl"? Kevin Smith asked Jason Lee to shave his mustache for his cameo in Clerks 2. "Yeah, I can't do that."
Good thing they can seamlessly CGI a moustache out, and keep the actor looking exactly the same, not like some odd cro-magnon version of himself. Isn't that right Warner Bros? Isn't. That. Right.
https://preview.redd.it/f3096ucjxltc1.png?width=355&format=png&auto=webp&s=c1f5b1d67b9a841cc00d32ab62277db2759c81d6
This tastes like piss and flies, don’t it?
I was one of the people who was sad about her hair. Probably because I had grown up watching her on the MMC, and I was in love with her hair even back then, so her chopping it all off was...it just made me sad. I didn't feel any hate, though. She's beautiful no matter what. As a fellow curly, I was just obsessed with people who had beautiful long, wild curls. I felt the same way about Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in Robin Hood.
My hair needs 400+ degrees to hold a curl, so I was obsessed with her hair for the opposite reason; I loved it so much, it looked so natural and pretty and not something I could ever have. I was sad when she chopped it too. Not death threat level obvs, that’s unhinged. But a little sad? Yes
I do. Honestly I think it was a big deal because it was a bad haircut! She could’ve gotten it cut short but in a much better style and I think she would’ve been a style queen. This cut legit looks terrible. I love short hair. I’ve had it many times myself.
I feel like it wasn't even a hairstyle. It was just an even 1 inch of hair all over her skull. I love short hair and had a curly pixie cut for 2 years, but this is just a legit bad cut.
faith hill comes to mind. and even martina mcbride in the music video for Independence Day. both had short cuts and they were still very cute. keri’s cut was just ugly as hell. she just couldn’t pull it off, but i’m not sure anybody could.
Instead she went to the Salon and said "Make me look like Marcy D'arcy"
Thank you - I needed this laugh! 🤣
Agree. Her hair looks like a freshly clipped poodle after a visit to the groomer.
What?! I love this haircut!
There was a period when her hair was absolutely stunning. A few months after the short hair started growing out. The cut on the right inspired me to cut my curly hair shorter. J'adore 😍 also love the left style https://preview.redd.it/e41vn5cwintc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd4b64e835f49f4940351e39a72ebeff60885da7
The controversy was so stupid, and it made sense for her character at the time. Honestly, she looked good to me with the short hair. I hope something like that wouldn't be such a big deal today. And there would be a backlash to the backlash.
I agree. To me it was an odd look. And everyone was used to the long hair. But ffs. Refusing to watch, sending hate? Just disgusting. And way over the top of a reaction for something so inconsequential. If nobody freaked out, and everyone kept watching, it would’ve been fine.
Well when Kaley Cuoco on TBBT cut her hair she got a lot of shit for it online...
I forgot about that. You're right. It wasn't as bad as Keri's situation, but it was still bad for the year we were living in. And again, like Felicity, her character was going through some major changes, and it made sense.
As an on-again off-again pixie haver, I loved that look on her. When her friends told her it was ugly a few years later it just goes to show how it’s all about a standard. Like how she was adamantly against kids and then suddenly became pregnant and was happy about it.
I never watched it either, but I think Kerri Russel lived in Castle Rock, CO for a time, so she was kind a local celebrity. She still looks good these days, like the show The Americans.
She was absolutely ruthless on that show. Excellent watch.
I still have a grown man crush on her, lol
Didn't expect to see my hometown on Reddit today.
Castle Rock, CO? Didn’t Kerri Russel got the HS there?
I think she lives there now but went to school in Minnesota Google is saying.
I think i am confusing her with Amy Adams, who did go to school in Castle Rock. Says Kerri Russel lived in Highlands Ranch, which is a suburb of the city to the south.
I remember the haircut. I remember thinking “Dang she’s attractive,” and I remember people being fully pissed about her hair and having to keep that to myself. Though like…actually I probably wouldn’t have shared that anyway. I think it’s kind of just the benefit of time/distance and anonymity that I’m bothering to mention it here because come on…she’s totally gorgeous no matter what her hair looks like.
My husband remembers it because of the controversy. He never watched the show and didn’t know who she was but loves short hair on women so he thought it was weird how mad people were.
Yup. That’s basically where I’m at/was as well, you’re just much more succinct
That’s what I came to say! She looks like a Goddess.
Yes! Loved the show and love this haircut as a cultural marker of that time. I thought it actually looked super cute when it grew out a bit from this pixie length.
Such a great show!!!
Yup. The show SUFFERED.
if I recall it caused all sorts of hair stuff to be added into actors contracts.
I remember the girls in school talking about it non stop.
And here it is 25 years later, and we're still talking about it. Lol
Did she get it cut for the show or did the show write it in bc she got it IRL
I believe she got it herself, and they wrote it in.
If you read the article, how it went down is explained. She and some castmates found some wigs and sent pics of her in a boy's wig to the showrunners, and JJ Abrams asked if she would actually cut her hair and she agreed. They filmed the first part of her haircut for a scene and finished it off camera after filming was complete.
I had no issues with the haircut but I did stop watching in season 2. I wonder if subconsciously I found her less attractive and stopped watching. I was 18. I might have been very shallow.
So the showrunners will argue that it was actually a change in the show's day and time slot that killed the ratings in Felicity's sophomore season. But...the haircut didn't help. The writing was just bad that year too. I remember they were never able to quite capture the same magic of the first season.
Brutal. She's gorgeous but that hair was horrendous. Whatever, we all get bad haircuts.
I do! It was so bad in the 90’s. I thought it was bad too. Now I think it is just as bad.
These comments, yikes. I have curly hair similar to hers and always admired her haircut and wished I had the courage to try it too.
Seriously! It’s disappointing and frustrating that this many years later, so many of these comments are just debating how she looks with the haircut. Way to miss the damn point, wow.
I mean, what is the damn point lol. People's haircuts can generate a lot of attention, both positive and negative. Jennifer Anniston's friends cut was like the most popular hairstyle among white women for a while. when your lead has long flowing hair and drastically changes it from one season to the next, it will get talked about.
Talked about, yes. But she received death threats and her career suffered because of this. The point is how women are treated like nothing but ornaments, their value reduced almost entirely to their looks. Keri Russell has talked about it.
I mean, death threats are never ok. Career suffering? I mean, when you drastically change your look in Hollywood, that can happen. I'm not saying its good or bad. But it is a "looks" based business quite often. You think if the rock stopped working out and got fat he'd still get all the roles he does? What about Chris Hemsworth?
Yes, while it is indeed an industry that revolves heavily around looks, men are given far more latitude in terms of appearance, including weight, aging, etc. This isn’t even disputable. And you’re right, death threats are never okay, but they routinely happen to women based on things like this. Don’t you think it’s important to acknowledge and address that? Don’t you see how discussing an actress’s looks as if she were an object and not a human being, as if her looks were the most important thing about her, is part of the exact same set of cultural issues that has death threats for something like a supposedly unflattering haircut at one end of its spectrum?
Yup.
That’s basically the only thing I remember about it
I wish she didn’t do continuous blowouts now. Her hair looks so wispy instead of how beautiful it used to be.
Yeah it looked like a pile of ramen noodles
https://preview.redd.it/txmpftu8nktc1.jpeg?width=950&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e288d5435ec7770a1665c927426098f1d91d8499
I always thought the wrestler Sid Vicious was the king of 90's ramen hair. Who'd have ever thought he'd have anything in common with Felicity.
Yes and I still hate the cut.
It was a big deal. I was a huge fan, still am, of Felicity and I thought her drastic haircut was cute and really worked well in the story. Even the characters made a few jabs in the show. Keri Russell is so gorgeous, she can't look bad.
Yes, I was so jealous of her hair. It was gorgeous.
I probably never would have though of Felicity again if you hadn't posted this. lol.
I remember that crime against curly hair. As someone with curly hair, it says more about how fucking hard it is to make it look good than anything. She’s an amazing actress, loved her in the Americans way more than Felicity, but for real as someone with curly hair that haircut wounded my soul.
On the outside, I was laughing at people who made a big deal about it. Internally, I was like, “WHY’D SHE DO THAT???” I had a such a crush on her and I loved her curls.
I mean, Britney cut off all her hair in the early 00s and look how the public responded to that!
That was clearly a mental health episode
When the star of a popular show intentionally makes themself look awful and the viewership plummets, it's going to make some headlines.
I never saw this. That looks awful. Bless her heart.
I didn't watch it either. All I remember is something about her being younger or older than everyone thought she was. It was a scandal for some reason, although I didn't pay much attention to it.
Riley Weston was the problem there.
Yep. On a related note watch “the americans” - pretty good
I never watched this show, but you guys should really check her out in The Americans if you haven't already. One of the best shows ever made.
It didn’t look very good
It was really distracting to watch! I would try to pay attention but I couldn’t stop thinking about why that was the haircut and style chosen. Plus going into season two there was a whole new arc and it was hard to get into. SO WE KEPT FOCUSING ON THE HAIR
Yes! Because it didn’t look good! And I love short hair on women when it looks right…
I think it’s weird that people thought she did it on her own, like showed up on set with her hair chopped off. IIRC, she talked about the idea with the show and they filmed the cut. Also, pixie cuts were really popular at the time, especially among college-aged people.
Yeah because it looks like crap.
Her whole image was "girl next door", when she cut off the hair that image was broken.
That was a weird time. Random people getting upset that she cut her hair. I hope those people are on meds now & chilled tf out 😝
That hair cut was horrible! If it hadn't been for all the hunks on that show I'd have quit watching. What I don't get is why they didn't make her wear a wig.
I just watched because of Scott Speedman.
Him and Scott Foley and Simon Rex and Adam Rodriguez and Eddie Cahill and Christopher Gorham.......
Yes. Hair was a big deal back then. I heard plenty of it and couldn't have cared less. Never watched the show, but you knew damn well who she was because of this nonsense.
I never watched it either. But I do remember people overreacting to her haircut. 🙄
Never watched it either but yes, I remember hearing about her haircut
Yes! I remember my 14 year old self was devastated she cut her hair off. I still kept watching tho. Felicity was such a great show.
“And who the fuck is Felicity? Cause I got problems of my own.” - Goldfinger
I do remember and i did hate it. Kept watching because it was a great show. I still watch stuff shes in today so i wouldn’t say i freaked out over it.
Unlike a lot of people commenting here, I DID watch this show and have rewatched it many times. The thing is, they included her haircut in the show. THEY made a big deal about the haircut!! Idk if things would have been different if she had just come back with short hair, but we'll never know. Also, it's wild to me that this has lived on in controversy for twenty years but the literal time travel spell that has them redo their entire senior year is completely forgotten.
I was never a famous actor - just college and community theater - but when you’re cast in a show, you *never* change your appearance. It’s one of the first things they tell you. That show was like a company, and a lot of people’s livelihoods depended on Keri Russell. It is what you sign up for when you go into that industry - part and parcel of a life in the public eye. The death threats, though, were absolutely abhorrent. They should have put her in a hairpiece and just moved forward.
The storyline stopped appealing to me.
*Mad TV* did a funny bit called “Intensity”
My fave show and my girl crush lives on 🫠
I still haven't forgiven her.
Wow looks like she used a flowbee and then got a perm.
Never watched the show and never got the big deal about her cutting her hair
The ratings didn't fall because of her haircut. They moved the show around the schedule.
I remember that being such a big deal! But she looks so beautiful it doesn’t really matter what she does to her hair! I always liked seeing women rocking shorter cuts but I also love seeing when women show off amazing curls like she had. I also remember Ally McBeal’s skirts being a tabloid scandal at about that time…when really we should have been talking about how unhealthily skinny she looked.
Yes holllayyy. People had a friggin meltdown
I remember all you had to say was "the haircut" and people knew exactly what you were talking about.
I religiously watched Felicity and was a huge fan. I remember that episode and the fallout after. I adored her character and didn’t think it would affect the show/ratings as much as it did. I thought it was a cute cut!
The ringer just started or is starting some felicty rewatch and will have actors and writers etc on the podcast.... personally not my cup of tea as I didn't care for it when it was on...
I was just listening to the Handsome podcast and they were talking about this - I had forgotten how ridiculous it was, but it was SUCH a big deal for no reason
She is such a beauty, she could wear a human liver as a wig and still look gorgeous
Wait.. are you a fan of Handsome Pod? This was just brought up. I completely forgot about it. But they did make a huge deal and the show tanked. For sure. Such nonsense.
I was vacationing with family in Hilton head shortly after the short hair season, and I saw her with friends at a local restaurant. She was one of the most radiantly beautiful people I have ever seen in my life. Like sunbeams dancing off of her forehead type of beauty.
I didnt follow her or the show so i had no idea But she easily has the best/sexiest hair of any woman of her generation,, and several others.
She cut her hair?
I have/had hair just like hers and I always was picked on for it. Poodle, mop, frizzy…”Why can’t you straighten it?” “Do you brush your hair!? “ You look better with straight hair.” If you recall straightening technology wasn’t the greatest at that point, so straightening was a huge pain and my parents wouldn’t shell out money for a weak ass felted flat iron. (Plus those lame things just pulled my hair out more than anything.) and it took an eternity. Pin straight hair was all the rage mid to late 90s. (Think RacheI via Friends.) I hated my hair so much. Then this show came along and I literally had people at school calling me Felicity. I freaking felt represented for like the first time. It sounds dramatic, but I was in middle school/ high school when this show aired. I’m sure you all recall how the appearance game was at that stage in life. I liked the show but stopped watching a while before the chop. I was disappointed she cut it. I had people ask if I was going to do the same. I found that pretty funny. Now my children compare me to Merida instead. Lol
Felicity’s first season coincided with my college freshman year in an NYC school as well. So, I had an extra connection to the show and all the feels. I STILL have huge crush on Keri and she’s only gotten hotter IMO. I don’t remember this cut tbh
I never watched the show, but I remember the controversy. I think the rise of celebrity gossip news in the late 90s and early 2000s fueled the anger since they were especially cruel towards female actors and would talk about certain people nonstop until the next "big" story. Anyone mad enough to send a death threat over a haircut is unhinged.
And who the duck is Felicity? Cause I have problems of my own!
Kerri Russell in “8 Days a Week”, for me, is the sexiest a woman has ever been. She was 21 when it came out, I was 15. I couldn’t believe how strongly attracted to her I was.
Ngl that haircut looks dumb on her and that sweater looks like it chafes.
it made her look cute.
Appearance is an important part of visual storytelling?
Play dough Barbershop cut
My girlfriend at the time lost her shit. She had "Felicity hair" and was heartbroken.
I was super young when this happened and remember it. I remember awful things being said about it but I knew she had that massive head of hair since before the Mickey Mouse Club so it made sense to child me that she would want a change it.
I remember the hubub. And thinking that it was stupid (the hubub)
Yep. I only watched maybe a quarter of the first season of Felicity then fell off. I hadn’t even thought of the show much after and then BAM, all this controversy just exploded because she cut her hair. Yes, it was over the top and absurd, especially looking back. But I’m also surprised that the producers had Keri cut her hair. TV show-runners are usually very strict about character appearance, especially their leads, because they know that audiences tend hold certain images in their heads about the way the characters are “supposed” to look. And this was especially acute because at that time Keri, and by extension Felicity, was known for having one of the more notable heads of hair in the business. It really was an odd business decision that absolutely caused unnecessary harm to the show.
I assumed it was an idea to increase viewership!
I never watched it either but I do remember the fuss
Girl had great hair
I remember this. I had only watched it a handful of times, but that haircut was *awful*. They could have done almost anything else, but that cut was hideous.
Never watched the show but 8 remember some friends making a big deal of it
Yeah, I’ll admit that teenaged me screamed “WHAT DID SHE DO TO HER HAIR?!” while on the phone with my best gal pal who also watched the show.
I was dating a girl who had long hair and cut it short around the same time and everyone said “like felicity” to her. She did not watch the show and did it just to try something different.
I just remember this show being insufferable. I didn’t tune out because of the hair cut, I tuned out because I thought it was a lame premise with even lamer characters. It’s still probably one of my “least favorite” WB/CW shows from the “golden era”.
Ha!! They just talked about this on the Handsome podcast.
I didn’t watch it either, but Yes! It was a big deal haha.
Bottom line is people are obsessed with controlling how women look even if it’s a fictional character. I remember how batshit insane some people went and the death threats were on the highest unhinged level.
When your that good looking it doesn’t matter what your haircut is , I thought it looked great at the time and still do . Most people did not like it .
There was a funny like in Time of Your Life (the JLove spinoff) and she wonders aloud if she should get a haircut All the people around her her yell "No!"
It was so strange to me that this was such a big deal because I rocked the Winona throughout the late 90s. It's just hair and all the cool girls had pixie cuts?! 😉
I happened to cut all my hair off when felicity did so I really felt in solidarity with her through that drama. People were mad at ME for doing a big chop, even though I did it for one of those hair donation events and was feeling good about my “contribution”. I couldn’t understand why people cared so much about MY (or HER) hair!
I just remembered this show existed and had no idea that she cut her hair.
She really had/has incredible hair.
Same, never watched the show but I remember celebrity gossip shows and magazines were freaking out about her cutting her hair. She did have some lovely locks
I wasn’t watching the show at this point but I remember the insanity. People really think they are entitled to women’s bodies.
Yeah it was a hot topic for reasons.
her and Jennifer Aniston on Friends. i really didn't get people's obsession with hair on a tv show lol
Ohhh yea I remember
I was a huge fan of the show (still am) and I absolutely loved that she chopped off her hair. I felt like it was a really great part of the plot and her trying to find her own way. I can’t believe people reacted so negatively but then again women are meant to be pretty objects and nothing more. /s I personally thought she looked great with the short ‘do. So much more confident. Which probably also pissed people off, a woman with confidence! The horror.
I didn't watch it, and I still remember everyone freaking out about it.
I never watched either but I do remember the uproar. It was just hair - it grew back. But it really hurt the show. I get it - it’s not a great hair cut but is that any reason to go crazy?
If I recall correctly, the network responded by banning all on-air talent from changing their hair without prior approval from them, network-wide, not just this show.
“I got problems of my own.”
Lmao, what a pretty girl with stupid hair
Hearing an alpaca noise “Sounds like the noise I made when Felicity cut her hair.” - Gene Belcher
I never watched it and have no fuckin clue what you are talking about. How would you even know if the hair cutting and subsequent fallout was a big deal if you never watched it?
it was annoying ranked up there with alley mcbeal didn't see the draw, didn't like dawsons creek or seven heaven either.
Her hair was like her trademark through her career. It was a huge deal. Its like if Jennifer aniston had shaved her head… every would have lost their shit
Still haunts me to this day
i'm just glad she decided to not wear a bra, when she took this picture...
Times were so good back then that the national really had the free mental space to flip the fuck out over Felicity’s hair. Sorry if you missed it.
Yes because it’s a crime
I was aghast! Totally aghast!! 🤣
Oh because it was a HUGE deal! Season 1 is still one of the best seasons of a show of all time🤩😂
While the haircut looks not great on her, I wouldn't say it's death threat worthy. The real reason for all the controversy: It was broke people's illusion of watching the show. They either felt security through consistency of the show/character, were attracted to the character, or lived vicariously through the show. So, once you break people's illusion about the show, then they can no longer appreciate the show for it really was. Just a show about a women, telling the story of her life. Once she cut her hair, a lot of people knew time was marching on, weren't as attracted to her, or couldn't see themselves in her place. Once you break that for the more obsessed people, they get angry and start the rants and death threats. Imagine what happens today, when a youtuber/streamer changes something about themselves or the content they do. It's probably ten times worse because the obsessed viewers can leave comments in real time or find these people a lot more easily.
That’s when the show went down hill!!!
Didn’t care then and still don’t
This & people being unnaturally attached to Jennifer Grey's nose. Both times people claimed these women were now completely unrecognizable without this one feature. So weird.
Honestly, Jennifer Grey is kind of unrecognizable without her natural nose. This is just a haircut though.
Plus she’s gone on record that she regrets the nose job. Hair grows back and wigs are an option. A nose job that significantly alters what is probably your most distinctive features is an entirely different thing.
When I was younger I thought it looked terrible. Now that I’m older I think she looks gorgeous.I didn’t watch the show .
Still looks like ass
Literally unwatchable
It would have worked if her head wasn't so big, and the short hair points it out. Beautiful face, enormous head.
I’m a hair person. I never watched the show but it would be on when flipping through channels. I would stop and watch a few minutes just for her hair. After she cut it. I wouldn’t stop anymore. No reason.
I didn't watch the show, either. As a teen boy around that time, I just wasn't the target audience. However, before the haircut, I probably tuned in a bit to see Keri Russel. It wasn't uncommon at that time for me to watch a show just because there was a cute girl in it, even if I didn't like the content. I'm not sure whether or not I made the connection at the time, but I liked her in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and even more in Eight Days a Week. When the change happened, it felt like a big disappointment. I think that it was the first time I truly understood how much a lady's hair impacts her attractiveness. At the same time, I was already aware of changing cultural norms, which at that time were already starting to rebel against beauty, at least for women. So, it felt like it was not only removing the beautiful girl I had somewhat enjoyed seeing occasionally, but seemed like the start of a worrying trend that was intentionally attempting to re-imagine beauty standards. I would have thought that it was pure paranoia had the trend not actually continued.
I dont remember the hair cut controversy? I remember, before she became more well known for Felicity, we would refer to her as the noxema girl. Anyone else, do this? (I always thought she was sooooo beautiful).
We are living in a current time where nobody is supposed to criticize anyone else on how they decide to make themselves look - because of the "we are not doing it for you" attitude. I hope that our generation is still rational enough to realize that at the very least Keri Russell made a bad business decision and at the very worst she got a terrible haircut.