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Ghosbusters actor and comedian Leslie Jones has spent the past 12 hours on Twitter exposing the kind of relentless racist and misogynist abuse she has endured on the platform for far too long.
As one of four stars of the all-female Ghostbusters reboot, and by virtue of being extremely talented women enjoying great success in the public domain, Jones and her co-stars have long been the target of relentless abuse, from the time of their casting to the film’s well-received premiere and beyond.
In March this year, Jones considered disabling her account on Twitter but was coerced into staying by her Ghostbusters director, Paul Feig. Now, after spending the better part of a day naming and shaming those who have been subjecting her to vile, racist tweets, Jones says she is once again considering leaving the platform.
Ok I have been called Apes, sent pics of their asses,even got a pic with semen on my face. I’m tryin to figure out what human means. I’m out
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
“It’s so sad, most of these comments sound like they are from ignorant children. ‘I’m the source of AIDS?!’ WTF!! These people hate themselves” tweeted Jones. “You have to hate yourself to put out that type of hate. I mean on my worst day I can’t think of this type of hate to put out,” she continued.
“I don’t know how to feel. I’m numb. Actually numb. I see the words and pics and videos. Videos y’all. Meaning people took time to spew hate. I use to wonder why some celebs don’t have Twitter accts now I know. You can’t be nice and communicate with fans cause people crazy.”
“Twitter I understand you got free speech I get it,” Jones added. “But there has to be some guidelines when you let spread like that. You can see on the profiles that some of these people are crazy sick. It’s not enough to freeze Acct. They should be reported. And for all the ‘don’t stoop to their level people’ it’s way past that. So please have a seat. Don’t tell me how to react. Cause I have every right to be offended and pissed. So for right now I have to take a break.” [sic]
I feel like I’m in a personal hell. I didn’t do anything to deserve this. It’s just too much. It shouldn’t be like this. So hurt right now.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
I leave Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart.All this cause I did a movie.You can hate the movie but the shit I got today…wrong
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
Paul Feig has once again interceded, describing Jones “as one of the greatest people I know” and that “Any personal attacks against her are attacks against us all. You did nothing to deserve this. The Internet is filled with good people but there a few pieces of shit out there.”
That’s an understatement. Should you feel so inclined, you can tweet your support at Jones using Feig’s recommended hashtag #LoveForLeslieJ or, perhaps even better yet, go and see Ghostbusters in cinemas now.
Tile and cover image: Ghosbusters
