The sexist hostility aimed at the new Ghostbusters reboot in the months leading up to its release has been well-documented at this point. But in the wake of the film’s opening last week, the vitriol seems to have intensified — targeted in particular at actress and comedian Leslie Jones, who tweeted early Tuesday morning that she was “[leaving] Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart” after a barrage of racist tweets.
It’s unclear if she meant she was leaving the social-media platform for good, though it seems she would have good motivation to. She spent most of Monday fighting back at the trolls who flooded her Twitter mentions with fiercely bigoted insults, screenshotting and retweeting the lewdest ones. Eventually, however, she appeared to reach a breaking point.
“I feel like I’m in a personal hell,” she tweeted just after midnight.
She went on to call out Twitter for not enforcing guidelines on preventing online abuse, prompting a response from the company’s CEO Jack Dorsey.
Meanwhile, many are taking to the website to voice their support for Jones, using the hashtag #LoveForLeslieJ.
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