Leslie Jones has returned to Twitter. The Ghostbusters actress left the social media site a week ago, after she was racially abused by trolls. Leslie marked her comeback with a typically flamboyant tweet:
Welp…a bitch thought she could stay away. But who else is gonna live tweet Game of Thrones!!
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 21, 2016
In an interview with Seth Meyers, the actress clarified that she hadn’t actually left Twitter. She never deleted her account and had no plans to leave the service. However, she said that after a long night of relentless abuse, she had been frustrated and needed a break.
Nonetheless, fans of the actress marked her return with messages of support. The actress was in fine form afterwards, posting photos of a baseball game she’d attended, and joking around with her well-wishers. It wasn’t for long though, as the trolling began once again. This time though, Jones was prepared for the attack. She even sympathised with the people who sought to bring her down.
I’m not a hateful person and just like people to be happy.these unhappy people that send stuff well just very disheartening.I feel for them
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 24, 2016
hurting people hurt people. Most of these people I don’t think they believe in the stuff they say. It’s just a lot of hurt, hug someone
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) July 24, 2016
After widespread condemnation of the attack on Jones, Twitter was forced to review its enforcement policies. Leslie even met with Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, to implement some corrective measures. One of those actions involved the permanent suspension of Milo Yiannopoulos, a conservative blogger for the website Breitbart. While conservatives on Twitter protested the suspension, and argued that it was a violation of Yiannopoulos’ right to freedom of speech, Jones said, “Hate speech and freedom of speech are two different things.”
