On March 27, 2016, a Facebook page, known as “The LAD Bible”, posted pictures of Prison Break star Wentworth Miller, back in 2009, when he was tattooed and fit on the show, alongside another image of him, showing obvious weight gain in 2015. The image was captioned “When you break out of prison and find out about McDonald’s monopoly…”

Wentworth Miller acknowledged this Internet meme, opening up about his struggle with suicidal thoughts and depression. Wentworth Miller said when he first saw the meme, “it hurt to breathe”. “In 2010, semi-retired from acting, I was keeping a low-profile for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I was suicidal.” Wentworth wrote, “At the lowest point in my adult life, I was looking everywhere for relief, comfort, distraction.” Miller began to describe his battle with depression, stemming from childhood. “I turned to food. It could have been anything. Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. But eating became the one thing I could look forward to.” The actor went on to tell how some weeks, all he looked forward to was his “favorite meal and a new episode of “Top Chef.”

While out for a hike in Los Angeles, Miller and his friend crossed paths with a reality show film crew. Paparazzi were circling the area and they snapped the picture of heavyset Wentworth Miller. The photos were blasted all over the Internet, alongside images from an earlier time in Miller’s career, captioned as things such as ‘Hunk to Chunk’ and ‘Fit to Flab’.

Miller ended his post with links to sources for others struggling with depression or are suicidal. “If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Reach out. Text. Send and email. Pick up the phone. Someone cares. They’re waiting to hear from you.”

The actor’s post received tons of media attention, bringing forth an apology from the writers of The LAD Bible Facebook page. “We posted two pictures of you last night to our Facebook page, but today we want to say we’ve got this very, very wrong. Mental health is no joke or laughing matter. We certainly didn’t want to cause you pain by reminding you of such a low point in your life. Causing distress and upset to innocent or vulnerable people is simply not acceptable.” The apology stated.

Why is it that after Wentworth Miller opened up about his depression, The LAD Bible felt it right they apologize? While an apology is a nice gesture, shouldn’t an apology have come regardless of whether Miller was suicidal or not? Body shaming and cyber bullying are extremely underrated topics in today’s society. Think about those, never diagnosed with depression, perfectly content with life, whom are ridiculed online on a daily basis and are pushed to the point of depression and even suicide. Where are their apologies?

“Apologies matter as soon as the person offended makes it known they have been hurt. They lose their meaning once they’ve been offended for the same thing shortly after.” College freshman, Kaylynn Wohl quoted.

Fact of the matter is, nobody thinks about their actions before performing them. The question stands; when does an apology matter? After you call out your bullies for exposing your demons?

“A tragedy like this is usually is a reminder of how we should be living our lives,” said AHS English teacher, Roxie Smith. “Here is the problem. These things come to light, we read them, and we get upset and angry that this ever happened. We blame the person that did it and then what?  It can either change how we behave temporarily- then people go right back to doing what they did before or people can realize that we need to make long lasting changes to our actions.”

Apologies mean nothing, if the behavior that the party is apologizing for hasn’t changed. The LAD Bible still posts offensive memes. They just target other celebrities. I mean, they’re no longer posting about Wentworth Miller, so their behavior changed, right? Think again.

“I feel that an apology only truly matters when it is sincere and from the heart.  If one is forced to apologize does this really justify that they meant it or did they just do it to appease the crowd?” Coach Nathan Lanik commented. “I also believe an apology is asking permission for forgiveness and putting the thoughts of the one that you have hurt in front of your own.”

Bullying is a huge problem in today’s society and while we may never be able to completely stop the spread of harmful words, sincere apologies are the first step to resolving the bullying issue that seems to have spread everywhere.