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For some context, Jonathan has played Viscount Anthony in the Shondaland series Bridgerton since it aired on Netflix in 2020.
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While Season 1 centered around Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page’s characters, Jonathan took the lead in Season 2 alongside his onscreen love interest Simone Ashley, who plays Kate Sharma.
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Season 3 followed with stars Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton at the center — and the worldwide press tour was huge.
Fans have since criticized the people behind Bridgerton for failing to adequately promote Jonathan and Simone “as a pair” like they did Phoebe and Regé, and then Nicola and Luke.
Bridgerton viewers have also accused the show of giving Anthony and Kate less storyline-wise in comparison to the other leading couples.
This — along with unverified rumors that Jonathan and Simone had to fund the Season 2 wrap party by themselves — has resulted in several Bridgerton fans calling out the show’s treatment of Anthony and Kate over the years.
Now, it’s important to note that ahead of Bridgerton, Jonathan starred in popular British shows like Chewing Gum and Broadchurch, and he’d also won an Olivier Award in 2019 for his performance in the West End revival of Company.
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Since Bridgerton, of course, Jonathan has gone on to land a heap of impressive roles — most recently being in Wicked: Part One alongside Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
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With all this in mind, Shondaland released an article this week suggesting that Jonathan’s renowned success is thanks to them.
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The piece is currently titled “A Timely Ode to Jonathan Bailey,” although screenshots and screen recordings circulating online show that it was initially titled “A Timely Ode to (and Maybe a ‘You’re Welcome’ for?) Jonathan Bailey.” The article’s current URL also features this exact same wording.
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Per the screenshots and screen recordings online, the original Shondaland article began, “We at Shondaland would like to take the unusual, unprecedented step of apologizing and also saying, ‘You’re welcome,’ at the same time.”
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It then went on, “You see, when the brilliant team of producers behind Shondaland’s hit Netflix series Bridgerton selected Jonathan Bailey to play Anthony… nobody at Shondaland was quite aware of the new era of unholy thirst that we would go on to usher in.”
The current version has the first sentence omitted. Instead, it reads: “When the brilliant team of producers behind Shondaland’s hit Netflix series Bridgerton selected Jonathan Bailey to play Anthony — the eldest Bridgerton son and the viscount of their noble house — perhaps we weren’t quite aware of the new era of unholy thirst that we would go on to usher in.”
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The current version still features the same descriptive line as the original: “We get the ‘Wicked’ hype around Bailey, but let’s take a minute to honor his not-so-humble beginnings, from ‘Bridgerton’ and beyond.”
While the article goes on to acknowledge Jonathan’s major success, several internet users have called Shondaland out for suggesting that they’re responsible for it.
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“there is something so sinister about shondaland trying to take credit for jonathan bailey’s success and popularity while they paid him dust during his actual season,” one person said.
“This is very embarrassing,” someone tweeted, while another user added, “The only thing they should be apologizing for is how they mistreated Jonny and Simone, separately and as a leading couple.”
“that you’re welcome is unnecessary,” one person said. Someone else wrote, “He is an immensely talented actor, singer, and dancer. Shondaland taking credit for his work, even as a joke, is extremely distasteful, to say the least.”
