Black Widow Star Florence Pugh Blocks Comments Following Instagram Bullying

Black Widow star Florence Pugh has seen her Instagram comment section become loaded with so many toxic remarks that not only did she remove the option to leave comments on a recent post but she posted an IGTV video detailing her reaction. It began on Monday when Pugh posted a photo of her boyfriend Zach Braff and the dog which they are raising together. Monday was Braff’s birthday and Pugh dedicated the post to him but the actress says that within minutes, “70 percent,” of the comments on the post were bullying her or Braff with all sorts of negativity and toxicity. Now, she’s shutting that down.

“I will not allow that behavior on my page,” Pugh said in her new video post. “It makes me upset. It makes me sad that during this time when we really all need to be together, we need to be supporting one another, we need to be loving one another — the world is aching. The world is dying, and a few of you decided to bully for no reason.”

See the video for yourself in the post embedded below.

“I don’t want that on my page. It’s embarrassing,” Pugh said towards the end of the video. “It’s sad and I don’t know when cyber bullying became trendy. I don’t know when it became a point system. I don’t know why it’s a cool thing and that’s never been what my page has been about. So, here’s to you guys, and I hope that we can keep on being positive and to those who do not agree with any of what I just said, I kindly ask that you unfollow me, because that is not my page. Be safe. Try and be positive during all of this and I’ll see you soon.”

Pugh is not the first celebrity to be bullied in comment sections. The Walking Dead, for example, has seen its stars quit social media entirely after negative remarks clouded their notifications. Star Wars actress Kelly Marie Tran also infamously became the victim of intense online bullying.

Still, Pugh has a lot to look forward to as Black Widow nears and the Marvel fandom welcomes her with open arms. Known best for roles in Midsommar, Fighting With My Family, and The Falling, Pugh will soon be propelled further into the main stream as Yelena Belova, another Black Widow operative in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel’s updated release schedule sees Black Widow arriving in theaters on November 6th. It is followed Eternals on February 12, 2021, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on May 5 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on November 5, 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on February 18, 2022, Black Panther II on May 6, 2022, and Captain Marvel 2 on July 8, 2022. Disney+ also has The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, What If…? Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and Moon Knight on the way.