Gavin Casalegno broke his silence on the viral fan hate his “The Summer I Turned Pretty” character Jeremiah is getting online, and reiterated that he is not his character while speaking about the prevalence of online bullying.
“They tend to dislike him, yes,” Casalegno said in an interview with The New York Times published Thursday. “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. I think it’s important to also understand and realize that this is a fictional story — and it’s also not me.”
On Amazon Prime Video’s hit show “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Casalegno plays Jeremiah, one of two brothers in love with the main character Belly, played by Lola Tung. Fans have largely always “shipped” Conrad (Christopher Briney), the older of the two brothers, and Belly but that sentiment went into warped speed when Casalegno’s character cheats on her in Season 3.
“I don’t think there’s a single human being in the world who can carry the emotional negativity to the degree that stuff like this happens,” Casalegno continued. “And I think that’s why Amazon did a good job of stepping in and being like, ‘Hey, no bullying.’ Though, not really going so well.”
The character’s indiscretion was known to many fans since the show is based on a book series of the same name by Jenny Han, who also serves as a showrunner on the series. Ahead of the Season 3 premiere of “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” the official social media account for the Prime Video series cautioned viewers against bullying and hate speech.
“Cousins is our safe place,” the post read. “Everything good, everything magical. Let’s keep the conversation kind this summer.”
The show’s social media account also posted a list of community guidelines, which read, “we have a ZERO tolerance policy for bullying and hate speech. If you engage in any of the following you will be banned.” The community guidelines warn against “hate speech or bullying,” “targeting our cast or crew” and “harassing or doxxing members of the community.”
Casalegno tries to keep clear boundaries between the show and his personally life but added that while he doesn’t watch the show, he is still incredible grateful to be a part of it.
“I honestly haven’t even really watched any of the show. Because, you know, when you’re in it, you know what’s happening,” he said. “And so it’s like: why? At the end of the day, it’s work — it’s an amazing job, a dream job — but it is still work.”
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” Season 3 is currently airing weekly on Prime Video.
