Leslie Jones, badass
[UPDATE: Milo has been banned for good from Twitter. My thoughts here.]
More than a year and a half of manbaby whining wasn’t enough to derail the opening weekend of the Ghostbusters reboot: the film took in a greater-than-expected $46 million in the US, and Sony is already talking about a sequel.
And so the Lady-Ghostbuster-haters have returned to their roots. And by that I mean harassing women. The woman they’ve chosen to target this time? Leslie Jones, who, in the tiny minds of her harassers, has two strikes against her: 1) she’s one of the stars of the Ghostbusters reboot and 2) she’s black.
The harassment campaign seems to have started in earnest yesterday morning, not long after “journalist” and Internet Nazi apologist Milo Yiannopoulos posted his, er, review of Ghostbusters on Breitbart, singling out Jones as “the worst of the lot. The actress is spectacularly unappealing, even relative to the rest of the odious cast.”
After this, the deluge. Racist Twitter goons swarmed Jones, attacking her as a “coon” and a “savage,” and comparing her to Harambe the ape; one critic, Jones reported, sent her “a pic with semen on my face. I’m tryin to figure out what human means.”
Taken aback at the sheer nastiness of the attacks, Jones started posting screenshots of some of the most blatantly racist abuse.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
So sad pic.twitter.com/WQn097m9hn
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
Exposing pic.twitter.com/jfSbGj3yCP
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
I just don't understand pic.twitter.com/N9xWoXPttu
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 18, 2016
Did Milo and his Twitter goons organize this campaign of abuse? I don’t know. But he definitely poured fuel on the fire.
After Jones reported him on Twitter for abuse, Milo (or someone working for Breitbart Tech, which Milo ostensibly runs) assigned a Breitbart Tech “reporter” to write a “news” article about this momentous event. No, really.
When asked for official comment on his blocking by Jones this is what Milo said: “She must have read my review! Honestly, this is why I say feminism is cancer. She used to be funny but being involved in a social justice dumpster fire like Ghostbusters has reduced her to the status of just another frothing loon on Twitter.”
Further ridiculing Jones, Milo said, “Imagine it: the star of a Hollywood blockbuster sitting at home reporting random people on social media for saying her movie sucked. Sad!”
Imagine the editor of Breitbart Tech assigning a reporter to interview him about being blocked and reported on Twitter. Beyond sad.
Milo then Tweeted screenshots of some obviously fake Tweets purportedly from Jones that some of her haters had conjured up and posted on Twitter.
Sad! pic.twitter.com/IT4cb24Bik
— Milo Yiannopoulos ひ✘ (@Nero) July 19, 2016
Wow, Leslie! pic.twitter.com/Ni2J3rod9R
— Milo Yiannopoulos ひ✘ (@Nero) July 19, 2016
Don't tell me some mischievous internet rascal made them up! https://t.co/u8QRgaThTE
— Milo Yiannopoulos ひ✘ (@Nero) July 19, 2016
Truly a class act, all the way.
After many hours of this sort of abuse, Jones responded to the hate with a series of heartfelt tweets.
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 sprew hate
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
As much as you want to thinks actors ain't human I want to give you something to think about. I work off pure passion for this game.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
I'm more human and real than you fucking think.I work my ass off. I'm not different than any of you who has a dream to do what they love.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
I've never claim to be better or special. I just try to do my job as best as I can. Isn't that any of us yall. So Yea this hurts me!
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
It's like when you think "ok I've proven I'm worthy" then you get hit with a shovel of hated. I'm numb. I mean I know there is racism.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
But I'm I that naive to think that some things was changing yes I was. We still live in a world where we have to say "black lives matter"
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
I'm so tired of it. Why is this still a fight? I want to hate so bad but I can't because I know it doesn't fix anything and just make me sad
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
Stop saying ignore them or that's just the way it is. Cause that's bullshit. Everybody knows an asshole check them for their hate.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
Stop letting the ignorant people be the loud ones. Y'all I got more love than hate but they louder. Fuck that be louder.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
Twitter I understand you got free speech I get it. But there has to be some guidelines when you let spread like that. You can see on the
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
Profiles that some of these people are crazy sick. It's not enough to freeze Acct. They should be reported.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
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.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 19, 2016
Cause I have every right to be offended and pissed. So for right now I have to take a break. All this hatred giving me the blues! Outty 5000
— 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
The haters gloated over their “victory.”
> IMMA EXPOSE THE TROLLS
[twelve hours later]
> I LEAVE HERE IN TEARS pic.twitter.com/aK39J4Oebm
— Lo-Ping (@GamingAndPandas) July 19, 2016
If you’re on Twitter, show your support for Jones in the #LoveForLeslieJ hashtag.
And consider sending a strong but politely worded note to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (@jack) to let him know that Twitter’s continued inability or unwillingness to rein in its nastiest abusers and trolls is not acceptable.
Twitter can be a marvellous platform to share thoughts and jokes and links and ridiculous gifs. It can also be the enabler of vicious campaigns of harassment and abuse. Twitter provided the platform that made the racist harassment campaign against Jones possible.
Get it together, Twitter, or Leslie Jones won’t be the only one signing off.
H/T — Thanks to everyone who brought this to my attention. Thanks to Colby Klaus, whose post on the Amala Network offered a detailed timeline of the abuse and highlighted Milo’s role in all this, which I drew on in writing this post. And thanks to @TakedownMRAs for staying on top of this and pointing out Lo-ping’s gloating Tweet.