Paget Brewster apologises for berating journalist

Following intense backlash for publicly berating a TV journalist on social media, “Criminal Minds: Evolution” star Paget Brewster has issued an apology and deleted the post.

On Sunday, the actress stated that she “profoundly regrets” telling journalist Shealyn Scott “you suck” for her coverage of the long-running show, and urging her to find a different job.

“Hi guys, I was mean to Shealyn Scott last night and I profoundly regret it,” wrote Brewster on X. “Shame on me for insulting a human being for doing their job. I’m very sorry, Shealyn. And I’m sorry to those who follow me that you saw me behave like that. Turns out, last night, I sucked.”

Brewster’s public apology came after she insulted Scott for publishing “bad pics and bad reviews” of the series. Ironically, the photograph in question accompanying the journalist’s critique was an official promotional still approved and distributed by Paramount.

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“Hello critic Shealyn Scott,” Brewster’s since-deleted original post read. “You’re young. You don’t know that bad pics and bad reviews can lead to 350 people losing their jobs. Sell vintage. Work at a shelter. Do something better than what you do now. Because right now you suck.”

The original post sparked an immediate online firestorm. Industry peers and internet users quickly jumped to Scott’s defense, calling out Brewster’s behaviour as unprofessional.

“Publicly telling a young woman that she sucks because she wrote an article criticising the 10-episode structure of “Criminal Minds” is kinda gross. No Paget Brewster, right now you suck,” a netizen wrote.

“I know for a fact Paget got tons of hate for playing Prentiss,” another post reads. “It’s evil to treat another young woman the same way.”

Brewster first joined “Criminal Minds” in 2006 as Emily Prentiss during Season 2. Following the original show’s 15-season run on CBS which wrapped in 2020, she returned to the show rebranded by Paramount+ in 2022 as “Criminal Minds: Evolution”, which is currently airing its fourth season.