Internet Hate Campaigns: From Gamergate to Blake
“It started with TikTokers and Redditors noticing that the vibes between Baldoni and Lively seemed off; they then realised that the entire cast of It Ends With Us had unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram, and suddenly the floodgates were open.”
“I can’t believe we were all fooled.” That seems to be the prevailing consensus of the internet following the news that Blake Lively is suing director and co-star Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign. For those of you blissfully unaware, this summer, among the release of the film It Ends With Us, the internet turned on Blake Lively, and they turned hard. It started with TikTokers and Redditors noticing that the vibes between Baldoni and Lively seemed off; they then realised that the entire cast of It Ends With Us had unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram, and suddenly the floodgates were open. Think-pieces and listicles about her alleged crimes were released, body language experts were talking about how awful she appeared on red carpets and in press junkets, and she clearly bullied the entire cast to unfollow Baldoni. Meanwhile, self-proclaimed male feminist Justin Baldoni came out looking golden. He gave off the impression as someone who really, really cared about the domestic violence (the topic of the film), and someone who’d been bullied into intimidation by Hollywood nepo baby bitch Blake Lively and her long-suffering husband. Isn’t it great that we have male feminists to stand up to awful “Mean Girl TM” women. Isn’t it great that the internet is banding together to show everyone what a Mean Girl Bitch she is?...