Don’t worry, Alanna Masterson — Josh McDermitt has your back.
McDermitt, who plays Eugene Porter on AMC zombie drama “The Walking Dead,” tore into his co-star’s critics while speaking to Huffington Post recently, declaring, “I’m going to bully you into stop [sic] bullying.”
Masterson, who gave birth to her daughter Marlowe last month, herself tore into people who made cruel comments about her weight and appearance following a “Walking Dead” episode that focused on her character, Tara. In a lengthy missive, Masterson told her detractors to “grow the f— up.”
“Dear Instagram trolls, body shamers, and the men and woman who think it’s ok to comment on my weight: I hope that you don’t have children,” Masterson wrote last week.
McDermitt largely echoed that sentiment in his interview, saying, “She just had a kid. That’s why she hasn’t been in the first six episodes because she was recovering from pregnancy and then people are talking trash about her appearance, and it’s like, ‘Screw you.’”
The actor continued, “I’m going to bully you into stop bullying. That’s what I feel like we need to do. I don’t know how this is gonna work, but we have to stop bullying each other and calling people out for their appearance.”
The actor extended his anti-bullying jeremiad to cover all internet trolls, not just those going after his co-star.
“People need to chill the F out with the crap that they’re putting on the internet. It’s very disturbing because we are people, everyone. And I’m not talking about actors. I’m talking about anyone on the internet. I mean, I just read something on CNN the other day where a teenage girl committed suicide who was cyber bullied. This is bullshit. This should never happen,” McDermitt said.
Watch McDermitt stick up for his colleague and humanity in general in the video.