Fans of One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson have come to the singer's aid with death threats and trending hashtags after an Australian radio host joked on air that he had "kind of ratty facial hair."
On Tuesday, a pre-recorded interview between Tomlinson and Australian radio personality Ash London aired on the Hit Network's breakfast show. Before airing the interview, London and her co-hosts, Ed Kavalee and Ash Williams, joked about the singer.
@ash_london What a horrible way to express your “Love” to @Louis_Tomlinson #LouisDeservesBetter
"So we're clear, because I'm a very visual guy...he's the guy with the smaller face with the short brown hair?" asked Williams.
"Kind of like ratty facial hair," answered London, before Kavalee said Tomlinson was "not Harry Styles" and the "least popular one."
The breakfast team's comments quickly sparked a backlash from fans of Tomlinson, who sprung into action to angrily reject the conversation.
I JUST SAW WHAT HAPPENED WITH LOUIS AND I AM SO FUCKING BEYOND PISSED YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT SOMEONE THAT WAY WHO TH… https://t.co/KQfYtglCOV
@ash_london BITCH YOU ASKED FOR THE HATE YOU'RE GETTING DON'T YOU DARE EVER DISRESPECT LOUIS AGAIN. APOLOGISE BITC… https://t.co/cHE2jdHSj1
Soon, a concentrated effort from the fandom had #LouisDeservesBetter trending worldwide.
#Update | #LouisDeservesBetter is worldwide trending at 3th place. Keep spreading love!
Louis. Is. Just. As. Important. And. Talented. As. The. Other. Boys. End of story. #LouisDeservesBetter
Guys, when tweeting #LouisDeservesBetter do include Miss You in your tweets too. Get that promo in!
And on Tumblr, it took off as well – with discussions on the ramifications of going after London, the female radio host, over the two male co-hosts.
And then things started getting personal, with Ash London becoming the sole target of a barrage of abuse.
I feel so disgusted by the words that @ash_london said about @Louis_Tomlinson . FUCK YOU @ash_london FUCK YOU.
I hope that Ash London bitch fucking chokes.
@mitchfel @ash_london We were trending #LouisDeservesBetter worldwide BEFORE Louis reacted. It was our decision to… https://t.co/rg0SNKj0kE
Some fans have claimed to disavow the death threats and angry comments being directed towards London, but that hasn't stopped a fair share of them remaining mean-spirited, spiteful, and downright horrible.
And no @ash_london does NOT deserve death threats sent her way, but she /does/ deserve criticism as to how she and… https://t.co/8gH5POi1hw
Facing a seemingly endless onslaught of messages on Twitter, London switched her account to private. Shortly afterward, she briefly returned to publish a message clarifying the interview and her thoughts on Tomlinson.
But the fans were not buying it...
@ash_london fuck off, girl. You are false and without any ethics. Do not try to explain yourself, you're only making your situation worse.
@ash_london kill yourself ....
@ash_london kys 😌
And none of this was helped when Tomlinson effectively weaponised his followers. "Probs best to stay on private for a bit longer love!" he tweeted, including a middle finger emoji.
@ash_london Probs best to stay on private for a bit longer love ! 🖕
From there, the hatred boiled over. Tomlinson has over 31 million followers, many of whom watch his account for every like, retweet, and tweet. For them, this was permission to attack — and attack they did.
@Louis_Tomlinson @ash_london YOU ENDED HER
@ash_london Die please
perra @ash_london die slut
Six hours later London returned to Twitter to publish another statement which alluded to the fact that the entire conversation from the morning's breakfast show had been attributed to her and not her co-hosts. London had become the face of the incident. "A lot of people claiming I said some things which, in reality I simply didn't," she wrote.
London also said she would be leaving social media for a bit as "the abuse and threats are a little much for me right now." In response to her tweet, Tomlinson's fans...abused her further.
@ash_london Are we supposed to feel bad for you ?
@ash_london I hate you
@ash_london Apologise properly or listen to louis and go private
@ash_london
@ash_london
And really wanted her to know that what she both said and did not say was bad.
@ash_london The majority of us don't condone any bullying that has happened as a result of this, but do you see how… https://t.co/nOPdc6jMUW
@ash_london I am so sorry for the threats you received. That's not okay. But you really needed to be called out for… https://t.co/eUvDk4QR5q
Australian fans were coming to London's aid to clarify that — at least in Australia — "ratty" isn't the most terrible thing you could be called.
@kayliroseee @marty_97m @ash_london Yes I’m honestly so salty about it l!!! I’m a massive 1D fan have been since I… https://t.co/D24pHrDfJ8
@ash_london Aussie listeners understand that the term ‘ratty’ isn’t even really an insult! Unfortunate what was sai… https://t.co/w4x5Ln9PRd