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Musician Machine Gun Kelly and actress Megan Fox recently announced their engagement, but not everyone is feeling congratulatory--and it all comes down to the design of their rings.
Kelly recently spoke about the design of Fox's ring, which is designed to "hurt" if she tries to take it off, which he calls a metaphor for the fact that "love is pain."
To many, this was just yet another chapter in the deeply, some might even say performatively, weird romance between the two. But to many others, Kelly's choice of ring is a perfect example of relationship toxicity, and they're dragging the star for seemingly romanticizing dynamics that can easily turn abusive.
Writer and Producer Kim Caramele sparked a heated conversation about the issue with a tweet, seen below, calling the pair's message "damaging."
Hey gang! Just a friendly reminder that love is NOT pain. That's a damaging message that allows abuse & toxicity to be misinterpreted for love. Love is wanting each other to be happy & to feel good. Romantic. Platonic. Self. Love for a pet. Pain is never the barometer. I promise.https://twitter.com/FilmUpdates/status/1483832368360218627\u00a0\u2026— Kim Caramele (@Kim Caramele) 1642646311
Caramele wrote:
"Hey gang! Just a friendly reminder that love is NOT pain. That's a damaging message that allows abuse & toxicity to be misinterpreted for love."
"Love is wanting each other to be happy & to feel good. Romantic. Platonic. Self. Love for a pet."
"Pain is never the barometer. I promise."
The ring design that Kelly chose, a collaboration with designer Stephen Webster, is certainly unconventional.
Consisting of an emerald and a diamond, which correspond to Kelly and Fox's birthstones, the ring's design was Kelly's idea. As he described it Vogue:
"The concept is that the ring can come apart to make two rings. When it's together, it's held in place by a magnet...
"...The bands are actually thorns. So if she tries to take it off, it hurts... Love is pain."
Okay then...
Given the outright weirdness of the Kelly/Fox romance so far--these are people who also supposedly drank each other's blood to cement their engagement, after all--the design is certainly on brand.
But many others saw danger in the "love is pain" imagery and messaging, saying that it normalizes toxic and abusive relationship dynamics, and they took to Twitter to speak out against the couple's spectacle.
Two middle-aged has-beens normalizing abuse for attention, wow never seen that one before— Brooke Binkowski (@Brooke Binkowski) 1642613116
\u201cLove is NOT pain\u201dhttps://twitter.com/kimcaramele/status/1483992304943783938\u00a0\u2026— Olga 7 (@Olga 7) 1642763824
Why not design the ring to look like an actual red flaghttps://metro.co.uk/2022/01/19/machine-gun-kelly-designed-megan-foxs-ring-to-hurt-if-taken-off-15943331/\u00a0\u2026— Niall (@Niall) 1642589549
Machine gun Kelly said the ring he gave Megan is designed to hurt if she takes it off. Meaning he wants her to be in a world of pain if she ever THINKS about leaving him— Andel (@Andel) 1642659704
I actually thought this was really sweet how MGK designed Megan's ring, till we got to the part where he made the bands as thorns so if she took it off it would hurt... Bro that's lowkey twisted.pic.twitter.com/FaGRNiSold— xDevsx (@xDevsx) 1642588928
JEWELLER: What do you want to say with the engagement ring?\n\nMGK: Say...? \n\nJEWELLER: What message are you sending to Megan when you ask her to marry you? \n\nMGK: OH! \u2018That if she ever leaves me, she\u2019ll suffer.\u2019\n\nJEWELLER: Like emotional abuse....but in a ring?\n\nMGK: LOLOLOLOL!pic.twitter.com/fyFrCURjY6— Erin McGathy (@Erin McGathy) 1642760735
Machine Gun Kelly, a pop star, has had his girlfriend actor Megan Fox\u2019s engagement ring designed so that spikes in it will cause pain if she removes it. A) he\u2019s an absolute arsehole & B) so is the designer and manufacturer. But publicity eh?— Joolz Denby (@Joolz Denby) 1642674628
Others dragged the couple for simply being downright weird and creepy.
pic.twitter.com/1ePTryft2N— Christian Cortave (@Christian Cortave) 1642608477
megan fox\u2019s ring:pic.twitter.com/sZJ8LfodIv— \ud83d\udc98 (@\ud83d\udc98) 1642617429
Megan when he explained the ring to her.pic.twitter.com/ppy00atAj8— Joshua. (@Joshua.) 1642613609
Didn\u2019t MGK give megan a custom made ring that hurts when you take it off? This has to be the weirdest celeb couplehttps://twitter.com/PageSix/status/1483500620573253637\u00a0\u2026— tee | spideyholic (@tee | spideyholic) 1642621584
And for those of you of a certain age who hear echoes of actors Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton's blood-soaked early-2000s romance in Fox and Kelly's bizarre relationship, you're not alone. Thornton's son recently called the pair "copycats" in an interview with Page Six.
Anyway we wish them best of luck in their marriage or whatever.