It's hard being a celebrity. You're rich, attractive and everyone wants to be your friend. Whoops, sorry, those are the perks. But celebrities do have problems. They lose their privacy, get accosted in public, and trolls sling mud at them on social media.
Celebrities like Star Wars' Kelly Marie Chan and Stranger Thing's Millie Bobby Brown quit some social media accounts after getting bullied. It's hard to deal with trolls, especially when you're young, or new to fame. You could read ten comments, nine of them positive, one negative, and only think about the negative one.
Modern Family's Ariel Winter has grown up in front of our eyes. She was cast on the hit sitcom at 11, playing the nerdy middle sister, Alex. Now she's 20 and looks nearly unrecognizable from her geeky character. Her co-star Sarah Hyland, who plays vapid older sister Haley, has defended her on Instagram, blasting anonymous 'creeps.' But every photo opens the floodgates for unpleasant comments - like a recent raunchy one taken on July 4th with her boyfriend.
After an invasive paparazzi incident, Ariel deleted her Twitter account. According to Entertainment Weekly, this is the transcript of her now-vanished rant:
"If a paparazzi attempts to take another f---ing picture in front of my house one more time I swear to god I will find ANY SORT of legal action. Sad when you literally enjoy your job but hate every part of the fame aspect. Also sad when you desperately want to move somewhere remote so you can just live a normal life in peace. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I hate being followed and I hate my shit out in the news."
Recently Ariel shared a photo of herself at the gym, wearing a NSFW shirt. The front reads "Keep calm and eat a bag of d--ks." It's not the type of advice Phil and Claire would offer on Modern Family, but it's not a bad motto to express frustration. In the photo, she takes a break from lifting weights, leaning back with serenity.
However, the trolls came out in full force. One person wrote, “Wow, you're such a skank!” while another commented, "This girl's IQ must be significantly low. Amusing." One individual defended Ariel, writing, "It's not her job to a role model to be a role model for your kids or anyone else." Another chimed in, "I need this shirt so damn bad. [Eating a big of d--ks] is one of my favorite sayings!"
Well, if you're an Ariel Winter fan, check out her Instagram while you still can. On IG stories, the actress posted an image claiming she was "in the process" of deleting all social media. Maybe this trend will become more common. When you create a social media account, you're opening a window into your life, and you don't know what will crawl in.