Skip to Content

Tragedy struck this weekend as Sarah Hyland lost her 14-year-old cousin in a car accident.

Unfortunately, her sadness was compounded when a request to help her grieving relatives provoked a bitter backlash.

Now, Sarah is sharing her distress and taking a break from social media.

Sarah Hyland in White
(Getty)

"You guys finally did it," Sarah tweeted this week.

A lot of people tweet hate in the hopes of ruining a vulnerable celebrity’s day.

They must be patting themselves on the back right about now.

"Your horrible negative ignorant words have broken me," Sarah reveals.

She asks: "Happy?"

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

"Staying offline for a while," Sarah announces.

She does, possibly out of contractual obligations, have a planned exception to that step back.

"I have a special announcement and video releasing on Wednesday I believe," she writes.

She is clearly dealing with a lot of strong, negative emotions.

"So," she concludes sadly. "There’s that."

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

Some people — perhaps some of the same haters responsible for the initial backlash — were less than sympathetic.

"You only have yourself to blame for this backlash, unless there’s some massive detail we’re all missing," snarled one reply.

"Asking complete strangers to contribute to the funeral expenses of your own family member which you could easily pay for yourself is low-class and unconscionable," the hater claimed.

Others tempered their criticisms.

"Not all of it is hate, some is genuine concern and condolences," another wrote.

"Some are questioning why you have to ask for help for such a tragic private family matter?" the tweet asked.

"And yes, some is incredibly hateful," they acknowledged. "Good luck with your life, live it well."

Sarah Hyland at an Event
(Getty)

More fans rallied to support Sarah Hyland and to disparage her haters.

"She shared the link that his family made to support the funeral," pointed out a fan.

"She more than likely has already helped the family out tremendously," the tweet guesses.

"Everyone commenting can stop being insensitive," the fan continues. "And let her mourn the loss of her loved one."

The fan correctly points out: "Just because she has the money doesn’t mean they do."

"Don’t let these horrid monsters online break you," another writes. "They aren’t worth it."

"But take some time to take care of yourself and your family," the tweet concludes. "That’s what is important."

The Hollywood Gossip Logo

To simplify things, Sarah asked fans to consider donating to cover her young cousin’s funeral expenses.

Some fans were outraged that a famous actress who is genuinely rich — and just got done vacationing in a private villa in the Virgin Islands — wants their money.

They think that she should pay for it herself or shut the frick up, essentially.

While it’s true that Sarah has an estimated net worth of about $9 million, we don’t know that much about her finances.

Net worth is not the same thing as having a money bin like Scrooge McDuck. Net worth and liquid assets are not synonyms.

Sarah Hyland in Burgundy
(Getty)

We also don’t know the behind-the-scenes details of how she gets along with her family.

Some people who acquire wealth have to set boundaries to stop their own families from milking them dry. 

Maybe Sarah’s had a problem like that in the past.

And, as her defenders suggest, perhaps she has already contributed, or has promised to contribute to the funeral costs. Who knows?

What we can say for certain is that there is an easy solution when you see someone ask for money and you don’t think that you should give them money.

Just don’t give them money.

But whatever you do, please do not direct hate and vitriol at someone who is mourning the death of a child in their family.