“Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” star Will Poulter announced Wednesday he’s taking a “step back, of sorts, from Twitter,” in the interest of his mental health.
Poulter — who co-stars as Colin Ritman in Netflix’s interactive film about ’80s video game programmer Stefan (Fionn Whitehead) and his attempts to develop the fantasy novel “Bandersnatch” into a video game — received criticism about his physical appearance via social media, after the “Choose Your Own Adventure”-style installment of the Charlie Brooker-created anthology series launched last Friday.
With love… pic.twitter.com/JSm7oNLTsV
— Will Poulter (@PoulterWill) January 2, 2019
“In light of my recent experiences I am choosing to take a step back, of sorts, from Twitter,” Poulter said in a statement tweeted yesterday. “Before I do, I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to everybody who has watched ‘Bandersnatch’ and for their responses (whatever they may be) to the material we created. I accept all criticisms and it’s been a delight to learn that so many of you enjoyed what many people worked very hard to produce!”
“As we all know there is a balance to be struck in our engagements with social media,” he continued. “There are positives to enjoy and inevitable negatives that are best avoided. It’s a balance I have struggled with for a while now and in the interest of my mental health I feel the time has come to change my relationship with social media.”
Here are some of the tweets criticizing Poulter as “ugly” — along with some of the tweets criticizing the “ugly” comments about Poulter’s appearance:
WILL POULTER IS NEVER UGLY AT THE FIRST PLACE ITS JUST YALL CANT APPRECIATE AN UNCONVENTIONAL BEAUTY LIKE HIM !!!
— yee yee (@mahsfa) December 30, 2018
https://twitter.com/ginsengfuck/status/1079631556505788416
https://twitter.com/anappra/status/1079692040777224192
https://twitter.com/fturafree/status/1079484789869158400
https://twitter.com/indiosyncratic/status/1079516953927208960
Poulter noted he would still be “posting occasionally” with organizations he works with, adding: “I hope that this shift to reduce my personal expression and increase the focus on issues that matter will result in a better outcome for everyone. This is not the end. Consider it an alternative path.”
Netflix did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on Poulter’s decision to leave social media.
Read Poulter’s statement in full below.
In light of my recent experiences I am choosing to take a step back, of sorts, from Twitter.
Before I do, I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to everybody who has watched ‘Bandersnatch’ and for their responses (whatever they may be) to the material we created. I accept all criticisms and it’s been a delight to learn that so many of you enjoyed what many people worked very hard to produce!
As we all know there is a balance to be struck in our engagements with social media. There are positives to enjoy and inevitable negatives that are best avoided. It’s a balance I have struggled with for a while now and in the interest of my mental health I feel the time has come to change my relationship with social media.
I don’t want to appear unappreciative of all the amazing support I have received online for which I am genuinely so grateful, nor do I want my disengagement with social media to be at the expense of any of the organisations [sic] I am lucky to work with. So I will still be posting occasionally for and with @AntiBullyingPro @leap_cc @MayMeasure and @bptcompany among others.
I am privileged to have this platform. I hope that this shift to reduce my personal expression and increase the focus on issues that matter will result in a better outcome for everyone. This is not the end. Consider it an alternative path.
With love, Will