Zooey Deschanel vs. Patt Morrison

L.A. Times columnist Patt Morrison's blog quip the other day that actress Zooey Deschanel is a "snobby cow" for daring to diss an ugly corner of Downtown has elicited a big response — from Deschanel. On her Tumblr page, Deschanel notes her very public record as a pro-Downtowner and takes specific umbrage at Morrison's characterizations (which did seem at the time to be oddly....odd....given the trivialness and second-hand quippyness of the alleged offense.)

In your piece, the character you’ve created of “me” is actually pretty funny. I don’t know who this person is, but it seems as if you’ve borrowed her from the Susan Lucci repertoire. You make so many far-fetched conclusions; for one thing, you state, “go back to your house on the Westside.” Well, I can’t do that because I do not live on the Westside. You also open your piece by calling me a “cow”, which might be your opinion, but I wish a journalist for the Los Angeles Times and KPCC had found a more sophisticated way of sharing a difference in perceived opinion.

It’s hard for me to comprehend why you launched such a vile and toxic blow in my direction over a sentence fragment that you did not even hear for yourself. I do hope that in the future when writing about something, especially a human being, you will consider both the facts and context before publishing your opinion.

Clear advantage Deschanel. Actually, you'd hope someone prominently attached to KPCC and the Times would be more sophisticated than to toss around Westside (or romanticized Downtown) stereotypes. Morrison responds on the LAT blog as if she's on the high ground, which she isn't on this one. Now, according to Gawker, the actress's Twitter followers are giving Patt a drubbing. For her, Gawker's Seth Abramovitch quips, "summer's about to feel a whole lot longer than 500 days."

Deschanel photo, from her Tumblr page