As “The Summer I Turned Pretty” gets closer and closer to its series finale, creator Jenny Han and Prime Video are doubling down on their message urging fans to stop bullying their cast members online.
“I know fans of the show are passionate and no one has bad intent, but even in jest, posting images of a woman being slapped or choked is not funny,” Han wrote in an Instagram story on Tuesday, likely referring to criticism towards Lola Tung’s Belly and Rain Spencer’s Taylor.
Likewise, Prime Video posted a play on the show’s title in a Tuesday social media post that read, “The Summer We Started Acting Normal Online.” It featured the caption, “The show isn’t real but the people playing the characters are.”
It’s not the first time the streamer has warned against bullying directed at “The Summer I Turned Pretty” cast members, as, ahead of the Season 3 premiere in July, Prime Video posted a list of community guidelines. They included, “We have a ZERO tolerance policy for bullying and hate speech. If you engage in any of the following you will be banned.” The guidelines also warn against “hate speech or bullying,” “targeting our cast or crew” and “harassing or doxxing members of the community.”
“Cousins is our safe place,” the post read. “Everything good, everything magical. Let’s keep the conversation kind this summer.”
While there might’ve been criticism directed towards Belly or Taylor, most of the fandom has rallied against Gavin Casalegno’s Jeremiah, who cheated on Belly in Season 3 and continued to stir up issues in their relationship. Casalegno confirmed the fandom’s “dislike” of Jeremiah in a recent New York Times interview and asked fans to understand that he is not his character.
“I don’t check Instagram anymore, so I really haven’t seen that much hate. The only thing that I see is my sister sending me the memes that are really funny,” the actor told the outlet. “I think it’s important to also understand and realize that this is a fictional story — and it’s also not me.”
In the interview, Casalegno applauded Amazon for “stepping in” when fans cross the line of critique to outright hate, though he admitted the mission is “not really going so well.”
