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Ghostbusters Actress Leslie Jones Fights Back Against Online Haters


Ever since news of the Ghostbusters reboot came out, no, ever since it was announced that the Ghostbusters reboot would star four female leads, the movie instantly received major backlash on the internet. Then the movie's first trailer was released, and the haters became more outraged.

Apparently, as the cast – Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones – pointed out, the majority of the critics are males, who kept on beating them and director Paul Feig about the movie without even seeing it first.

Over the past few months, McCarthy, director Paul Feig, producer Judd Apatow, Sony's Marketing Head, even Bill Murrayand Dan Aykroyd have defended the movie against the haters, while still making an effort to clarify what the movie is all about in the preceding promos following the first trailer.

Well, the backlash ensues, unsurprisingly. However, in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jones is responding to the sexist attacks in perhaps the most effective and peaceful way.

The 48-year-old actress apparently received harassment following the movie's debut trailer when she tried defending it from racist stereotyping accusations, that she almost quit Twitter. Jones said:

Oh yeah, I got a picture of a guy shooting a black woman in the head. I thought, "Okay, I'm going to take a break from going on there. These are crazy people." It was time to start using silence as a weapon. I'm starting to learn that it's more deadly than saying anything. When people started asking me about the gender stuff, I would say, "It's not a man thing, it's not a woman thing. It's a Ghostbuster thing." That's all I've got to say.

She added that she didn't get scared over the situation though, saying "Nah, [because] I'm not ever scared."

McKinnon even said: "That's Leslie Jones, ladies and gentlemen."

Speaking more seriously, Jones said:

I'm not saying I don't have fear but this wasn't real. And the real fact is if those people were in my face, they wouldn't say any of it. They'd be like, "Leslie Jones, How you doing?" When the movie comes out, it's going to shut everybody up.

During the interview, McCarthy also spoke up about the predominantly male critics about the all-female cast. She said:

I just thought, "Really? Are we still there?" First of all, they are fictitious characters, [and] so are the original. So to get into, "Well that can't be?" Well, the first ones weren't real either. It's a movie. I can't make heads or tails of it, and then I never gave it another thought. You just have to go, "Well, I hope you get out a little more. The world is fun." I really think it's the minority.

The way I see it, this is like what took place with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where the movie was judged even before it was released.

It's practically fine to hate a movie, but that doesn't mean it's an excuse to go on harassing or disrespecting the movie's cast, or in the case of Warcraft, the movie's director.

In the end, we'll never know whether the franchise is really "ruined" or not until we watch the film.

Ghostbusters hits theaters on July 15.

Read: New Ghostbusters Cast Reveals How It Feels Getting Slimed With "Multiplying" Goop

Watch: Ghostbusters Promo Highlights The New Sleek Ecto-1

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