Yesterday was a sad day for Star Wars fans, as actual human cinnamon roll Daisy Ridley deleted her instagram. Her actions followed harassment from “fans” and followers, which had been going on for some time. The final straw for both sides, however, was a post she made about the 2016 Teen Choice Awards.
When Hollywood Gets Political
The 2016 Teen Choice Awards chose to honor victims of gun violence by inviting their families to the stage. They created the hashtag “#stoptheviolence” to discuss the event. Many attendees of the awards show posted to their social media accounts about the hashtag. Some even took photos with the honored guests, giving them more visibility and including information about their victimized loved ones.
What Do Actors Owe Us?
Those following the page took Ridley’s (highly personal) post as a political stance. On facebook you can still see the arguments going on between “fans” urging her to back away from politics, even accusing her of being a hypocrite because of the weapons she uses on screen. Still other fans, upset by Ridley leaving instagram, have started posting on co-star John Boyega’s accounts asking him to tell her to return. Boyega, with all the protective instinct of an older brother, has respectfully declined.
This news is particularly shameful knowing that Ridley has been very candid and loving with her fans. Several months ago she opened up about her struggles with endometriosis. Before that, she responded to criticism about her natural body shape unapologetically, addressing the age-old adage that “real women have curves”.
This is not the first time a celebrity has left social media due to fan harassment or interaction. Most recently, of course, Leslie Jones left twitter following racist comments on her page. Patton Oswalt, Hayley Atwell, and Steven Moffat have all left twitter behind thanks to fan interaction. So when will we, the human race, learn our lesson? When will we learn to treat our celebrities with love and respect?
We’re still holding out hope.
