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

Pope Leo XIV; 2005 World Series
Andrea Staccioli/Insidefoto/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

Someone Found A Video Of Pope Leo At The World Series In 2005—And It's Truly Wild

You've probably heard that the new pope Robert Prevost, named Pope Leo XIV, is a Chicagoan, raised primarily in the southern suburb of Dolton.

And as a Southsider (or adjacent to one, anyway), that means he's a huge fan of the Chicago White Sox.

Keep ReadingShow less
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

RFK Jr. Blasted For Taking Grandkids To Swim In Sewage-Tainted Creek For Mother's Day

Sunday was Mother’s Day in the United States, so many families gathered to pay tribute to the moms in their lives.

People marked the occasion by attending church services, going out for Sunday brunch, gathering for family dinners, and violating national park regulations to go swimming in sewage tainted waterways.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pope Leo XIV
Salvatore Laporta/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images

Pope Leo's Brother Sparks Outrage Over Vile Posts About Nancy Pelosi And Parents Of Trans Kids

The brother of Robert Prevost, a Chicago-born Roman Catholic Augustine cleric who last week became the newly-elected Pope Leo XIV, is facing heated criticism after some of his older Facebook posts resurfaced and revealed that he'd shared a video calling Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi a "drunk c**nt" as well as a transphobic meme about transgender children.

For instance, in an April 23 post, Prevost claimed that former President Obama desired “the total destruction of our way of life” and aimed to turn the U.S. into a dictatorship, adding that it would be “a racist one on top of it.” He had previously pushed a conspiracy theory alleging that “OBAMA WAS A CIA ASSET, PUT IN PLACE TO DESTROY THE USA.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; a street in Stockholm, Sweden
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Pradeep Dambarage/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Stockholm Floored After Trump Administration Sends Letter Demanding They End DEI Programs

Swedish authorities in the capital of Stockholm criticized the Trump administration for sending a "bizarre" letter ordering that the city end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

The letter marked the latest step in President Donald Trump’s broader push to dismantle federal programs focused on diversity and inclusion—part of what he pledged in his inaugural address would be a campaign to stop attempts to “socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.”

Keep ReadingShow less
person using laptop computer and green stethoscope nearby
National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Doctors Divulge The Medical Questions They Wish Their Friends Hadn't Asked Them

Some professions seem to inspire people to ask for advice or insight. Medicine is high—if not at the top—on that list.

Once people find out a person is a medical professional, they often ask for an impromptu diagnosis or treatment recommendations.

Keep ReadingShow less