Rule No. 1 of celebrity social-media engagement: Never read the comments.
Rule No. 2: Don’t feed the trolls.
Oscar-nominated actress Florence Pugh, however, has broken both of these commandments and taken the noble but likely futile step of appealing to the better nature of social-media trolls and asking them to stop abusing her and her boyfriend Zach Braff on social media over their 21-year age gap.
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Pugh, one of the stars of last year’s Little Women, posted a photo of Braff snuggling up to her dog Monday to mark his birthday.
However, within minutes of the snap going live, she said that she and Braff became the target of “abuse” and “bullying,” with many of the negative comments centered around the 21-year age gap between the couple. They’ve been romantically linked since October last year.
Pugh said: “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—a few of you decided to bully for no reason.”
Pugh has been in a relationship with Braff, 46, since April last year.
Braff, although now primarily working as a director, remains best known for his role as J.D. on the television series Scrubs.
Ariana Grande was among those to respond to the post, saying: “‘Being hateful is not trendy’: a new tattoo for my chest.”
