Joss Stone has been branded ‘deluded’ and ‘tone deaf’ by angry Good Morning Britain viewers after she declared ‘happiness is a choice’ from the comfort of her luxury home in the Bahamas.
The multi-millionaire singer, 33, was slammed for being ‘out of touch’, ‘patronising’ and ‘entitled’ as show fans vented their fury on Twitter after her Thursday morning video-link live from the Caribbean.
In 2012, Joss was said to be the fifth richest British singer under 30 with an estimated net worth of £10 million.
‘Deluded’: Joss Stone has angered Good Morning Britain viewers by telling them to be happy from her Bahamas home
As well as her music career, Joss is also close friends to Prince Harry and attended his royal wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018.
The singer has been friends with both the Duke of Sussex, 35, and Prince William for years due to her humanitarian work. She was also a guest at the Duke of Cambridge’s wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011.
During her interview, Joss also raved about the government’s rescue package for the arts, despite many within the industry criticising the funding for being insufficient.
Promoting her A Cuppa Happy podcast with GMB’s Charlotte Hawkins and Shaun Fletcher, she said: ‘We have a lot of opportunity to be happy and we don’t always take it.
‘Tone deaf’: The singer, 33, said ‘everyone has a choice to be happy’ as she spoke from the Caribbean on Thursday, with fans slamming her as ‘tone-deaf’
Ka-ching! In 2012, Joss was said to be the fifth richest British singer under 30 with an estimated net worth of £10 million (pictured in 2016)
‘Every person I’ve spoken to so far [on the podcast] has flagged that we have choice, and I don’t think everybody truly feels that way – I think some people genuinely feel that they don’t have it. And that is a total myth’
She added: ‘We do have choice in mostly every direction, unless we’re enslaved and someone’s taken that choice away from you, or you’re in prison and you don’t have a choice to walk outside.
‘But, mentally, we have little choices that we make as we walk along in this life, and that is for every single person. That’s comforting, really. It’s very freeing.’
The singer then spoke about the Government’s funding for the arts, saying we should all be very grateful for their help.
Royal pals! As well as her music career, Joss is also close friends to Prince Harry and attended his royal wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018 (pictured in 2016)
She said: ‘I heard recently that Boris did something, he gave loads of money to the arts in the UK, something huge for the arts!
‘I heard that and I was like ‘Oh my God, another little gem that’s happened to our little nation. We’re so bloody lucky!”
Viewers did not take kindly to her comments, venting their frustrations on social media.
Many branded her ‘out of touch’, ‘deluded’ and ‘entitled’ as they criticised her for making light of the situation that many Britons are finding themselves in due to coronavirus and the ensuing economic hardship.
Angry: Many branded her ‘out of touch’, ‘deluded’ and ‘entitled’ as they criticised her for making light of the current situation
‘Out of touch with reality’: Many said that happiness is not always a choice for families struggling in the UK
One said: ‘How unbelievably patronising, entitled & blinkered. Its not a choice to be in lockdown, unemployed, having no money 4 bills/food, relative dead from covid. Well at least I’m not rich stuck out in the Bahamas in my luxury house.’
Another wrote: I’m sure a single mother with 2 young kids, struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table will take this advice on board. So out of touch with reality these people.’
Referencing her comments about the arts industry, one person said: ‘ I could have smashed my tv when she was cooing over the 1.8bn to the arts!
‘The events industry and the supply chain to it is collapsing right now and she is oblivious! Me and 1000s of others are being made redundant and shes banging on about choice and being happy!’
Venting their anger: Many on social media called out the singer for her comments on Thursday
As well as her music career, Joss is also close friends to Prince Harry and attended his royal wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018.
The singer has been friends with both the Duke of Sussex, 35, and Prince William for years. She was also a guest at the Duke of Cambridge’s wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011.
Joss and Prince Harry have bonded over their humanitarian work, with the singer an ambassador for his Sentebale charity.
He founded Sentebale with Prince Seeiso in 2006 to improve prospects for the thousands of children and young people affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa’s Lesotho and Botswana.
Joss even told HELLO! magazine at a charity concert in 2016: ‘He’s quite shy in that way, but it depends. Last time I was singing in Lesotho he started a conga line, so I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s a fun human being.’
The singer grew up in a sprawling rural converted farmhouse in Devon and she is reported to have bought the property at just 18 after her parents split.
Joss’ father, Richard Stoker, is said to run a ‘successful fruit and nut importexport business’ claims the Telegraph.
While her mother, Wendy Joseph, rented out guest houses on the family’s former sprawling rural estate.
Joss now lives in the US and had been spending lockdown in her lavish home on the east coast of America.
At the BRIT Awards in 2007, the singer was ridiculed for adopting a fake American dialect. She has previously claimed that her transatlantic accent is due to spending her early 20s in America.
Close! Joss and Prince Harry have bonded over their humanitarian work, with the singer an ambassador for his Sentebale charity (pictured at his royal wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018)