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The Internet’s worst people have a new woman to hate: Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones

Leslie Jones, badass
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.

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.

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.

The haters gloated over their “victory.”

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.

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SpukiKitty
SpukiKitty
8 years ago

The post before this one was cuckoo with rage and ALL-CAPS. I’m sorry. I looked stupid….but the gist of the point still stands.

GOOD NEWS!

LESLIE IS BACK ON TWITTER AND SHE’S NOT BACKING DOWN!!!
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/756209745506238464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

In fact this whole mess has become a big WIN for her!
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/07/leslie-jones-and-the-power-of-speaking-up/492590/

I feel that all these social media thingies should have very obvious, easy to find and use Block & Hide buttons. Just push a button and BOOM. Not only should these forums find a way to be serious about banning harassers and sockpuppets but they should also give the user tools to instantaneously get the jerks out of their face!

Many sites do have Block/Hide features but some don’t have them obvious! The Block/Hide should have a program in it that would affect other accounts the abuser would have (especially if they sockpuppet).

And again; There needs to be a counter-group for when stuff like this happens! People who provide support and counter the trolls.

Pietro_McM
Pietro_McM
8 years ago

Went to Ghostbusters, this afternoon. More fun than I was expecting. Definitely one to see in 3D. Best 3D experience I’ve had so far, made me jump a few times.

Was it worth, €13.00 (including €1.00 for a set of 3D specs)? No film’s worth €13.00, but definitely an excellent popcorn movie.

Hope there’s a sequel. 😀

SpukiKitty
SpukiKitty
8 years ago

I usually wait until a new movie comes on DVD.

I’ll buy it then….along with the original.

I love Ghostbusters!

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