Twitter trolls unfairly abuse ‘Ghostbusters’ actress

Balancing Act: Latest Leslie Jones attack should be our cue to speak up
Leslie Jones lights the Empire State Building to support Gildafest 2016, a stand-up comedy fundraiser in aid of Gilda’ Club in New York City on July 12, 2016. (c) 2016, Abaca Press, Distributed by Tribune News Service. (Photo by Dennis Van Tine/Abaca Press/TNS)

Abby Botan
Entertainment Columnist

Actress Leslie Jones has been under fire by trolls on Twitter and other social media platforms.

A troll is someone who anonymously says dumb things on a fake account on the internet.

Jones is one of the stars in the new all-female cast remake of the classic movie “Ghostbusters,” and she happens to be the only black woman in that movie. Her role in this movie seemed to trigger a strong hatred for her by a select few of internet users. Ultimately, she was ridiculed.

The online harassment and humiliation of Jones has become a national story. There were photos of Jones with her head photoshopped on Harambe being posted on Twitter.

Harambe is the Gorilla which was shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo.

“What happened to Leslie Jones wasn’t ‘trolling.’ It was a hate crime,” Uproxx.com wrote.

The reasoning for the attacks against Jones are simply because she’s black, she’s a woman, and she refuses to lie down for the people to talk down to her meaning that she’s a strong woman, and people feel the need to wound that.

Presidential candidate Hilllary Clinton supported Jones, tweeting, “@Lesdoggg, no one deserves this-least of all someone who brings us so much joy. I’m with you. -H.”

There was even a hashtag on Twitter called #StandWithLeslie.

Singer Katy Perry was one of the many who tweeted their support for Jones, “Do not give your eyeballs to this racist, hate-filled, misogynoir crime. I #StandWithLeslie.”

The hate Jones received was purely uncalled for, and Twitter Reps even came out with a statement.

“Over the past 48 hours in particular, we’ve seen an uptick in the number of accounts violating these policies and have taken enforcement actions against these accounts, ranging from warnings that also require the deletion of Tweets violating our policies to permanent suspension,” Twitter said.

 


Visit Our Sponsors

Churchadweb#63 Webster Groves HS (1)

Full page photo

Leave a Reply