Beach Volleyball Star, Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings Apologizes After Shopping Without Mask
MANHATTAN BEACH (CBSLA) — Beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings is under fire Tuesday for not wearing a mask while shopping.
In an Instagram post of a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, she said she went shopping without a mask on as "a little exercise in being brave."
She also said such restrictions "have not been enforced, but rather have been consented to."
"We are all endlessly complaining about the restrictive & arbitrarily selective rules that we are being strongly 'suggested' to follow & yet we are all consenting; Not much of a fight, just a lot of complaining and strongly disagreeing with this manipulation, but we keep consenting. It's maddening."
Her post drew backlash and expressions of disappointment from her fans.
"To those who are open to hearing where I am coming from, I appreciate you expressing your views. To those calling me dumb, selfish, privileged, bigoted, and racist and telling me that 'you are better than this', I fully acknowledge that addressing such an emotional, layered, nuanced an polarizing topic on social media was not the smartest thing…"
It's not clear where Jennings, who in 2017 purchased a home in Manhattan Beach with her husband Casey Jennings, went shopping without her mask.