Lily Allen is no stranger to causing controversy online, but she’s now found herself in the middle of a torrent of hatred that has forced her to step back from the platform entirely.
The trouble began when Allen attempted to make a point about people’s attitudes towards Muslims and other immigrants, by pointing out how socially-unacceptable many people’s opinions would be considered if the target of their hatred was, instead, pensioners.
Similar tweets such as the above, in which the word ‘Muslim’ is replaced by ‘pensioner’, didn’t sit well with an array of people online who didn’t quite get what Allen was going for here, and things began to escalate.
As one commenter accused Allen of having mental health issues, she revealed a range of conditions, including some that stemmed from the trauma suffered following the stillbirth of her child. Of course, as it tends to go on the internet, this brought out the absolute worst in her attackers.
As the BBC notes, one attacker told her that, had she not taken so many drugs in her lifetime, she “wouldn’t have miscarried”, to which Allen replied “I didn’t miscarry, I went into early labour and my son died from his chord wrapped round his neck.”
The abuse didn’t subside, with further comments telling her that “The baby knew you were going to be such a horrible mother.”
As a result of the hateful comments and overall backlash, Allen has stepped away from the social platform and left it in caretaker hands.
Hi , I’m Dennis,I’ll be looking after lily’s twitter for a while.I can only communicate in gif form,and I’m going on a hate blocking spree.
— Lily (@lilyallen) February 25, 2017
While the ‘Fuck You’ singer has certainly had her fair share of controversy over the years as a result of her outspoken nature, the comments on display here from her attackers were some of the purest examples you’ll find of the worst the internet has to offer – nobody deserves that.