‘Riverdale’: Vanessa Morgan Says The Black Hood Ruined Bughead, Not Toni

When news broke that Vanessa Morgan would be joining the cast of Riverdale as Toni Topaz, die-hard “Bughead” fans took even the thought of a love triangle so badly that Morgan received death threats. Now that The CW drama is nearing the midseason mark, however, Morgan says fans have a completely different take on the situation.

While Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) did break up, the show’s sixth episode this season, “Chapter Nineteen: Death Proof” revealed that while Toni and Jughead hooked up post-Bughead breakup, there was no lasting relationship between the two Serpents. Toni revealed that not only is she bisexual, but she’s more into girls. Morgan revealed in a recent interview with Cosmopolitan that because she went into things knowing about Toni’s orientation, she already knew there wasn’t going to be a Jughead/Toni relationship. She also had her own unique take on who was really responsible for the temporary Bughead breakup.

“When everyone was like, ‘Oh, you’re interfering with Bughead,’ I already knew that because my character was actually more into girls, it wasn’t going to be an end-all, ruining Bughead thing,” Morgan revealed. “First of all, I think the Black Hood ruined Bughead. But with Toni and Jughead, she wasn’t trying to be deceitful to lure him into the Serpents, to seduce him. They get along as friends, and they had a rough day. They were connecting, and he said he was over Betty, and you know, ‘we’re’ teenagers and hooked up.”

While Morgan may have known going into it how things would largely turn out, fans didn’t, and it lead to Morgan receiving death threats from particularly passionate Bughead fans. It was enough that Reinhart posted a defense of Morgan on her Tumblr, calling out the situation as weird and disturbing. Now that Toni’s sexuality is out in the open, Morgan says that fans have changed their tune. She says she is now getting a lot more love from fans.

“I had been through the ringer with Bughead fans, but I’m so relieved that this is finally out there, and everybody knows,” she said. “I’ve been getting a lot of love after this last episode, because now people are like, ‘Oh, never mind, you’re more into girls, so you’re not a threat to Bughead anymore.’ That said, sexuality is a spectrum; it doesn’t mean my character isn’t also into guys. But the tone has definitely changed. It’s so funny that all the people who were saying ‘die’ are no like, ‘love you!’”

Morgan also said that she’s gotten some perspective on the threats.

“I never took any of the threats too seriously; it just means that the fans are so passionate about the show, that they literally believed that I was Toni and literally believed that I was ruining Bughead’s relationship,” Morgan said. “I guess it means I’m doing my job.”

Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.