Captain Sandy Yawn from Below Deck Mediterranean received a considerable amount of backlash to a few videos she recently shared on Instagram.

Captain Sandy Yawn | Karolina Wojtasik/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

She and girlfriend Leah Shafer were shopping and shared that they forgot to use the directionals that are now lining many store floors. The directional tape is designed to have shoppers avoid crowding in aisles. Plus it is supposed to help shoppers maintain the six-foot distancing rules meant to reduce the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Shafer and Yawn were not wearing masks. Yawn lives in Colorado and the governor recently urged people the state to wear a mask when shopping or walking outside. Yawn joked about using the puppy dog filter on Instagram to provide her with protection. Later, Yawn posted another Instagram video but deleted it. Fans shared a screengrab of Yawn expressing her disappointment that concerts and sporting events were canceled until 2021.

Some fans were angry

Fans lashed out at Yawn on Twitter. “Whatever her intention, people with high profiles need to step back and be more careful at expressing an opinion on what’s best during this unprecedented situation,” one person wrote. Another added, “So disappointed in @CaptSandyYawn … you’ve been so vocal about staying safe. Frustration and restlessness aren’t excuses for potentially endangering more lives. You’re an incredible human being but this statement is horrid.”

Several fans came to the captain’s defense. “Maybe she tired and frustrated like the rest of us and just had a moment of anger..it happens..Captain Sandy is so nice and positive, everyone is entitled to an off day..” one viewer wrote. Another fan added, “You had a bad day, understandable. We are all stressing about Covid19. Ppl are allowed to vent, and sometimes it doesn’t always come out the way you want. No one is perfect, and that’s what makes us humans. We know where your heart is.”

Yawn apologized a few times on the thread too. “Appreciate this so much. It hurts me if anyone is hurt by my words. Never my intention.” She also clarified why she was frustrated. “Its was about the lack of funds for the people out of work and not making rent or buying food, Including family.”

But she issued a formal video apology too

Although she clarified her position and apologized, she shot an apology video but also shared that she was struggling. “I learned a lesson,” she captioned her video. “Thank you for understanding that sometimes even people who lead can make a mistake. I will own what I did and will allow myself to be human. I hope you do as well. Thank you for your message and the kindness it takes to share your thoughts about someone’s mistake. I need a #belowdeckmed mask!” Yawn said in her video she and Shafer don’t currently have masks because Shafer donated them to medical facilities.

She shared in her video that as someone in recovery, she can’t sit by the pool with a glass of wine or take an edible to reduce stress. “So I think my actions were that of an unconscious person that’s just feeling the strain and the pressure,” she said. “So I’m really, really sorry and I learned a lesson.”

Yawn told Showbiz Cheat Sheet that people in recovery were likely going to have a hard time with quarantine too.

“Obviously, it’s in you,” she said. “What do people do when it’s stressful? A lot of people take a drink. So many people relax by drinking a glass of wine or here in Denver smoking pot or having some edibles, right?”

“I don’t have that luxury,” she added. “Because I have it in my genes. I’m an addict, an alcoholic. I have to exercise, go to meetings. And know that this will pass. This too shall pass. That’s what I keep saying to myself. I call my sponsor, I stay engaged with people in recovery. And it’s hard, it’s a struggle.”