20-Year-Old Jenna Ortega Is Seen Smoking In Public, And Her Mom Publicly Calls Her Out In A Series Of Awkward Instagram Posts
Jenna Marie Ortega, best known for her roles in “Stuck in the Middle”, “You” and as the titular character in “Wednesday,” was photographed smoking outside in Notting Hill, West London. The twenty-year-old actress’s mother, Natalie Ortega, a nurse, responded by making a number of Instagram posts calling out her daughter.
She posted a meme featuring Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings,” mocking the skin and voice conditions smokers often get, as well as some posts with studies about the dangers of inhaling tobacco. While perhaps she meant well, fan reaction was mixed, with some arguing that Jenna is an adult, while others sided with the mother.
20-year-old actress Jenna Ortega was challenged by her mother after she was photographed smoking
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Image credits: Netflix
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Jenna Ortega has had a massive last few years, most notably playing the character Wednesday on Netflix’s “Adams Family” spinoff of the same name. Even if you haven’t watched it, you have probably encountered the iconic dance from a later episode of the show. She also starred in 2020’s Scream and the second season of the Netflix thriller You. As always with up-and-coming actresses, she has ended up under a serious amount of media scrutiny, so it wasn’t long before some paparazzi photographed her smoking while in London. While a twenty-year-old smoking normally doesn’t get a second look, her mother, Natalie Ortega, who is also a nurse, called out her daughter on Instagram and as always with famous people’s family drama, the internet took notice quickly.
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Natalie Ortega tried to educate her daughter through Instagram posts featuring memes and studies about the effects of smoking
Natalie Ortega made a series of posts, including a meme and some more information about the long-term effects of cigarette use. Nothing she posted was downright false, as the effects of smoking are pretty well documented. But there was fan backlash, as many wondered why she was policing grown adults’ choices and why she chose to do it so publically.
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Image credits: natalieortega1
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Smoking actual cigarettes used to be extremely commonplace, from airplanes to hospital lounges, but these days, at least in the US, it’s hit historic lows. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that only 11% of adults would describe themselves as regular smokers, which is 4% less than in 2016. In the 1950s, nearly half of US adults smoked regularly, so when you see a smoker on nearly every episode of Mad Men, it’s a pretty accurate representation of the times. Since then, people have become more aware of the dangers, and gradually, rates have dropped. Natalie Ortega is not wrong, cigarette use has all sorts of adverse health effects. Smokers are at a significantly higher risk of lung cancer and suffer from bad breath and yellowing teeth.
But, as many fans have indicated, Jenna Ortega is a grown woman. As much as we might hate to admit it, most of us have at least one habit that we know is ultimately pretty bad for our health. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that nearly 80% of Americans twelve and older have consumed alcohol in the last year. The negative effects of alcohol are not a mystery to anyone. Similarly, fast food is not considered good for you by any metric (unless one is literally starving,) but is still enjoyed by people all over the world. At the end of the day, consenting adults can and should make their own choices, but it never hurts to be informed.
Internet users were divided, some arguing that an adult can do what they please, while others thought a mom should look after her kids
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Obviously you shouldn't smoke but could she not just have texted it to her instead of posting it on instagram??? That just seems weird and passive aggressive to me.
Maybe it's why Jenna smokes, to deal with her mother. A lot of people I know that smoke started it because they had a chaotic/abusive home life, sadly. I finally pulled myself out of drinking but that took like 7 years. Anxiety, depression and adhd make it so easy to fall into something that seems to let us escape. But then it destroys us and our relationships from within. That said, she can make her own mistakes as an adult, and her mom needs to address it privately.
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Obviously, smoking is bad for your health and I am not a fan of smoking, but that's Jenna's problem, not mine. I get that Jenna's mom isn't happy, but why she's posting it online for everyone to see instead of actually talking to her daughter.
Maybe she feels guilty if she's worried her daughter is setting a bad example for younger fans, and is trying to counter it publicly as well.
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Why's this even worth the attention? She's been 18, she's a legally adult woman and she's smoking, so what?
Yeah... MOST of the time I smoked, I was an adult. Problem was, I started when I was 12. Even being a legal adult doesn't protect you from making mistakes you would spot and avoid once mature. I quit after 15 years, wishing I had never started.
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Obviously you shouldn't smoke but could she not just have texted it to her instead of posting it on instagram??? That just seems weird and passive aggressive to me.
Maybe it's why Jenna smokes, to deal with her mother. A lot of people I know that smoke started it because they had a chaotic/abusive home life, sadly. I finally pulled myself out of drinking but that took like 7 years. Anxiety, depression and adhd make it so easy to fall into something that seems to let us escape. But then it destroys us and our relationships from within. That said, she can make her own mistakes as an adult, and her mom needs to address it privately.
Load More Replies... Obviously, smoking is bad for your health and I am not a fan of smoking, but that's Jenna's problem, not mine. I get that Jenna's mom isn't happy, but why she's posting it online for everyone to see instead of actually talking to her daughter.
Maybe she feels guilty if she's worried her daughter is setting a bad example for younger fans, and is trying to counter it publicly as well.
Load More Replies... Why's this even worth the attention? She's been 18, she's a legally adult woman and she's smoking, so what?
Yeah... MOST of the time I smoked, I was an adult. Problem was, I started when I was 12. Even being a legal adult doesn't protect you from making mistakes you would spot and avoid once mature. I quit after 15 years, wishing I had never started.
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