We appreciate the intensity The Walking Dead viewers give to the fandom, but sending death threats to actors is insane.
Josh McDermitt, who plays Eugene on The Walking Dead, recently deactivated his social media accounts, including Twitter, after reportedly receiving multiple death threats and hate messages. Why was he receiving threats? Because some morons don’t know how to separate Eugene from the person who plays him.
McDermit hasn’t released a statement regarding the threats, but fans were upset when the actor left Twitter. They began a hashtag #ThankYouJoshMcDermitt to show their love for the actor. Check out some of the messages fans sent below:
To the people sending McDermitt hate messages, you guys know the zombie apocalypse isn’t real, right? There’s no viral outbreak that’s about to wipe out humanity as we know it. There’s no Rick Grimes out there ready to fight for your life. There’s no Negan ready to whip out his baseball bat and crush your skull. And there’s definitely no King Ezekiel killing said zombies with his pet tiger.
Don’t get us wrong. We were upset with Eugene for joining Negan’s cause so quickly. Comic book Eugene was extremely loyal to Rick, but show Eugene is all about self-preservation. We’ve thought a lot about Eugene’s actions. It makes sense for him to become one of Negan’s men. He’s afraid of death and yearns to live a life without fear. In Rick’s camp, Eugene was always in danger. He never felt safe. Meanwhile, Negan shows him a well-established community that’s secure and defended. It has walls, guns and multiple safeguards to protect them from threats.
Eugene can finally be at peace, at least for a little bit. If you were in Eugene’s position, you’d probably take the deal with Negan, too. But Eugene is still thinking about Rick’s camp. He gave Sasha the pill to take her own life instead of having Negan use her as a prop. He might be on the bad guy’s team, but he’s not a bad guy.
That said, we also have the common sense to know McDermitt is NOT Eugene. The guy doesn’t deserve to be bombarded by hate tweets and death threats because he’s playing a character. Come on guys, it’s not that serious.
Let’s turn our attention back to The Walking Dead Season 8 theories, shall we? One of the best parts of The Walking Dead fandom is reading what people think will happen in the show. The Walking Dead Season 8 premiere marks the series’ 100th episode. That’s a pretty big milestone for a show about zombies.
Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick on the show, recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly about The Walking Dead Season 8 premiere. The actor is excited to start the All Out War storyline and for more Negan-Rick action.
“It’s been a lot of placing the chess pieces and positioning and introducing key players in this landscape,” Lincoln told EW . “And I think now we get to start really playing the game. The game is afoot, as they say.”
The Walking Dead Season 8 premieres this October on AMC.
