Dan Aykroyd Has Harsh Words For ‘Ghostbusters’ Haters Who Attacked Leslie Jones
If you haven’t been paying attention: Leslie Jones endured a barrage of disgusting racist and misogynist attacks that ultimately forced her to take a leave of absence from Twitter. The culprits? The very vocal contingency of Ghostbusters fans (aka Ghostbros) who have been decrying Paul Feig’s reboot because it features an all-female cast. Original Ghostbusters star Dan Aykroyd has come out in support of Jones, and he’s got some seriously harsh words for all the haters.
During an appearance on Entertainment Tonight, Aykroyd was asked to comment on the recent controversy, and the OG Ghostbuster threw some shade — while wearing actual shades, no less. He started off by praising Jones as a “great writer, great comedian” before turning his attention to the people who inundated the actress with hateful messages on Twitter:
These people, first of all, they’re insignificant gnats. They’re losers, they have no lives of their own, they can probably barely pay for the wifi they’re using. I would say you’re looking at obese white men between 50 and 60 who are active Klan members, or members of the Aryan Nation, and there are millions of them.
Aykroyd went on to say that these are the kinds of people who will probably vote for Donald Trump in the Presidential election because they feel as though he’s the candidate who best represents their racist interests. He’s not necessarily wrong.
Breitbart contributor and noted GamerGate supporter Milo Yiannopoulos was the unofficial ringleader of the attacks on Jones, which went on for about 12 hours before Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey finally reached out to the SNL star to offer his help. Yiannopoulos has now been permanently banned from the service, but Jones’ ordeal is sadly similar to the experiences many women have had on Twitter. Although the site improved its guidelines for reporting and addressing abuse in the wake of GamerGate, it is still very difficult to get Twitter to take action against users who harass others with racist and misogynist messages.
Ultimately, what happened to Jones is horrible — the messages she received (which I will not share here, but Fusion has a helpful breakdown) were filled with such blatantly vile racism and hate; it’s the kind of thing that should be inconceivable in 2016, and yet, here we are.
Still, it’s sort of satisfying to hear Aykroyd’s comments — especially since he’s one of the heroes these trolls have been exalting in their bizarrely misguided battle to uphold the “sanctity” of the Ghostbusters franchise. When one of your own heroes says you’re a loser, maybe it’s time to stop and think about what you’ve done.