Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Ben Platt Reveals He Quit Twitter Due To Cruel Backlash To The 'Dear Evan Hansen' Film

Ben Platt Reveals He Quit Twitter Due To Cruel Backlash To The 'Dear Evan Hansen' Film
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Platt, who also starred in the hit musical on Broadway, admits 'it’s been really nice to be away.'

In a new interview, actor Ben Platt reveals that the backlash to the Dear Evan Hansen film adaptation was so intense it drove him off of Twitter.

Platt spoke out about the experience in a profile in The New York Times, which he called a "horrific" introduction to the dark side of the internet.


Platt, 29, won a Tony for his portrayal of the titular character, a high school student, on Broadway in 2017, but his casting in the film version sparked immediate backlash before the film even began production because of his age.

The film was very poorly received for many reasons, but on the internet Platt shouldered nearly all of the blame, and the Twitter uproar was intense.

The criticism of Platt's age was so intense that it even became the subject of memes on Twitter that mocked the star. Asked about the time surrounding the film's production and release, Platt told the Times:

"It was definitely a disappointing experience, and difficult, and it definitely opened my eyes to the internet and how horrific it can be."
"You’d think, after doing 'Dear Evan Hansen' onstage for four years, I would have already known that."
"I try my best to focus on people who tell me it was moving to them and they really felt seen by it. It is very easy for the good to get drowned out by the bad."

To make that shift, Platt had to leave Twitter, a move he said has made all the difference. As he put it:

"I find that Twitter is almost exclusively for tearing people down. I wasn’t getting anything positive, and it’s been really nice to be away."

On Twitter, Hansen's experience definitely resonated, even with people without a celebrity's platform.


But while Dear Evan Hansen may have inspired vitriol toward the actor, many on Twitter are very excited about his current gig as the lead in the Broadway revival of the classic musical Parade.







Despite the negative Twitter experience, Platt also told the Times that the Hansen experience overall remains close to his heart, even as he has moved into a newer, more adult chapter of his career.

"It will always be a piece of me."
"I feel a simultaneous constant pride and desire to keep it in my heart at all times, but also a real readiness and excitement at having moved forward and embracing my adulthood and playing characters that live in different worlds than that."

Platt will next appear in the Amazon movie The People We Hate at the Wedding, which comes out later this month.

More from Entertainment/tv-and-movies

Screenshot of Stephen Colbert
CBS

Stephen Colbert Makes Somber Plea To Americans In Wake Of Charlie Kirk's Death

Late-night host Stephen Colbert had a somber message for Americans as he addressed the assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk, stressing that "political violence only leads to more political violence."

Kirk died after an unidentified gunman shot him in the neck as he—ironically enough—mocked victims of gun violence at an event in Utah Valley State University. Kirk's murder has galvanized the far-right, with President Donald Trump and his surrogates claiming without evidence that rhetoric from Democrats is responsible for Kirk's death.

Keep ReadingShow less
a woman sunbathing on rocks.
a person sitting on a towel on a beach
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

People Share The Weirdest Flexes They Heard Someone Say With A Straight Face

It is never attractive to gloat.

Even so, some people can't help but brag, or "flex" as it is sometimes known, about certain accomplishments or attributes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @thedowntheredoc's TikTok video
@thedowntheredoc/TikTok

TikToker Hilariously Calls Out Target After Champion Pants Feature Awkwardly-Placed Front Pleat

Sometimes you can just tell when something was designed *for* women, but was not actually designed *by* women.

Take, for instance, the new pleated pants available at Target from the Champion clothing line. While there's nothing wrong with pleated pants and they certainly have a suitable spot in the workplace, the latest rendition of Champion pleated pants are, shall we say, NSFW.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @kaicutch's Instagram video
@kaicutch/Instagram

Woman Flips Her Car After Belting Out Ironic Britney Spears Lyric In Wild Viral Video

Whether we want to admit it or not, we've all had our fair share of carpool karaoke and maybe even imagined our car as our own personal recording studio.

But TikToker and Instagrammer Kaitlynn McCutcheon may have gotten too into her performance of Britney Spears' classic, "Hit Me Baby, One More Time," when the road and her car both said, "Bet."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from ​@lynnshazeen's TikTok video
@lynnshazeen/TikTok

Woman Goes Viral After Revealing How Her Obsession With Matcha Landed Her In The Hospital

Let's be honest: Too much of anything isn't good for us. It's all about the balance!

But the media and social media trends have taught us that certain things are really good for us, encouraging us to be like the "very mindful and very demure" girls and take care of ourselves. One such example is drinking more matcha, especially if you really like coffee or think you have a caffeine addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less