It’s the microblogging medium that allows you to air your thoughts no matter who you are. And where you are. And obviously, your thoughts might not align with what a majority is thinking.
And after all, it’s only 140 characters. Why do some tweets hurt us more than others, that we are compelled to reply to these hurters, these haters. Most celebs and public figures face this on a daily basis and most times, manage to shut their online ‘foes’ down with words. Others just ignore them or shut their own accounts down.
Well, fan armies, are one kind of trolls, too and wouldn’t take perceived fights and slights in their stride even if their idols would. Words fly faster than arrows and the battle royale begins. Here’s looking at who has had to face this barrage of hate the most....
LESLIE JONES, Actress
STATUS: Left Twitter
INSULTS: Was called an “ape,” a “big lipped coon,” and “the source of AIDS”
l Leslie just couldn’t take it after a point. The Ghostbusters actress tweeted, “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.” She even took Twitter to book, by questioning: “Twitter I understand you got free speech I get it. But there has to be some guidelines when you let spread like that (sic).” One of her last tweets read, “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.” Then things got worse, as she revealed to TIME magazine, “Then they got my email, and they started sending me threats that they were going to cut off my head and stuff they do to ‘N-words.’”
CHRISSY TEIGEN, TV personality, Model
STATUS: Still on Twitter and Instagram
INSULTS: Her unborn baby was called ‘science baby’, her pregnancy ‘twisted’
l Remember when Chrissy announced her baby’s gender and the online haters came out to play? Well, she could just as easily have told them to shut up or ignore them, but her comeback was an epic one (and more effective): ‘I also picked the embryo with a taste for bacon, a knack for magic and size 7 feet so she can always find shoes.’
AMY SCHUMER, Comedienne, Actress
STATUS: She takes em all on!
INSULTS: Quite a few
l That one time, film critic Jackson Murphy, 17, tweeted a sexist joke with Amy as the subject. She replied, ‘I get it. Cause I’m a whore? Glad I took a photo with you. Hi to your dad.’ Murphy deleted the post before apologising, conceding that he ought to leave the comedy to the professionals. Schumer’s Instagram troll shutdowns are also worth looking at.
JAMES BLUNT, Singer
STATUS: He’s the master blaster of Twitter trolls
INSULTS: Too many to list here
l He’s no stranger to insults and the You’re Beautiful singer’s timeline is a treasure trove of ‘why didn’t I come up with those comebacks’ retorts. He’s obviously too cool for school and rips into the the trolls with such sharp wit, we think he ought to write his own TV show. We remember one particular time a troll asked him, “Why does James Blunt always sing like his willy is being stood on”. His retort? “Darn thing is always getting caught under my feet.” Touché!
LIAM PAYNE, Singer
STATUS: On Twitter
INSULTS: Called fat
l While nobody can possibly think Liam is fat, the 1D boy took it in his stride and wrote back, “LOL. Just seen on Twitter, some people think I’m fat? I’ve never been called that before, now I’m on my way to McDonalds and then I’m off to fat camp.”
RIHANNA, Singer
STATUS: Fighting the fight, on a tweet-to-tweet basis
INSULTS: On her use of marijuana, on her “b**bs hanging out all the time in music videos”
l Rihanna is no stranger to controversy and she embraces it as part of her celebrity status. She is not one to take slights lying down, and is quick to shoot back replies to haters. When Twitter user
@TygaBreezyDiggy brought up her semi-nudity in her music videos, her reply to him was a terse “You’re welcome”. He didn’t come back for round two. When MTV commented on her use of marijuana at Coachella in April 2012, writing, “Yikes. @Rihanna’s marijuana photos from Coachella spark controversy,” Rihanna replied, “@MTV Yikes.... @rihanna ran out of f--ks to give.” Booyeah!
JK ROWLING, Author
STATUS: Shuts down trolls in epic style
INSULT: Was told she had no right to talk about the Syrian immigrant crisis because she was too rich.
l Just because she’s filthy rich, doesn’t mean JKR can’t comment on what’s happening around her. Hers is a true rags-to-riches story going from being someone who was almost penniless to buying castles. Her #refugeeswelcome didn’t go down well with one user called @Lukeocura, who ranted about her being a millionaire on a gold iPhone in a mansion, and hence, in no position to comment. She shut down the troll with one quote, “I’d type a longer retort, but these diamond buttons hurt my fingers.” That’s some brilliant stiff upper lip sarcasm for you, Luke!
GABOUREY SIDIBE, Actress
STATUS: Still on Twitter
INSULTS: Mostly on her plus size
l One tweet that comes to mind, was made after she walked the red carpet at the 2014 Golden Globes, and was subjected to cruel comments on her size. She tweeted, “To people making mean comments about my GG pics, I mos def cried about it on that private jet on my way to my dream job last night.” When she received support for her lovemaking scene in TV show Empire, trolls still had to spoil the moment by making comments on her plus size. She noted, I keep hearing that people are ‘hating’ on it. I’m not sure how anyone could hate on love but that’s okay. Honestly, I’m at work too busy to check Twitter anyways #Booked. Hope you enjoy next week’s show!”
ZENDAYA
STATUS: On Twitter
INSULTS: Rape, no-make-up look
l Trolls don’t get worse than this. @ogxbenson posted pics of Beyonce, Zendaya and Rihanna and Nicki and went on to ask, “If Purge was real, who y’all raping?”. The reference was to the horror/thriller film, Purge, where the government made it legal to get away scot-free with any crime, for one night a year — murder included. He obviously deleted the post when she called him out, thereafter calling him sick, immoral and inhuman and prayed that he found sense. That’s how you do it.
Another time, a user posted a pic of her without makeup and said looking at it, ‘scarred’ him. She posted a no-makeup picture and captioned it, “Terrifying, honestly”.
FRANKIE MUNIZ, Actor
STATUS: Active on Twitter
INSULTS: Bad acting
l Say what you want about an actor’s skills, they’re never going to take it lying down. They’ll get back with a vengeance by throwing the ‘I’ve got way more money than you’ line at their haters. Kim Kardashian did it, too. But when you read Frankie’s exhange with his troll, it’s a class apart. The troll told Frankie, “Your acting is awful. I’m sorry but it really is.” The Malcolm In The Middle actor wrote back to him, “Yeah but being retired with $40,000,000 at 19 has not been awful. Good luck with moving out of your mom’s house before your 35.” Ouch, that ought to have hurt! Add to that, Muniz is also a former race car driver and an alt-rocker. Beat that!
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