Dan Aykroyd Bullied And Trolled Over ‘Ghostbusters’ Review

Dan Aykroyd has seen the finished Ghostbusters reboot; and, while his first impressions may have been lukewarm, it now seems that the original Ghostbusters star is firmly behind Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and the rest of the cast. If Aykroyd thought his opinion would carry weight with fans, he is sorely and regretfully mistaken. Instead of considering Dan’s endorsement of the film as a sign that it might be worth a watch, original Ghostbusters fans have attacked Aykroyd on his social media posts.

Dan Aykroyd Praises The Women Of Ghostbusters

In the beginning, Dan Aykroyd wasn’t enthusiastically on board with Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot, though that may have had something to do with his own ideas. Aykroyd had long been trying to reinvigorate the original Ghostbusters franchise and Dan may have seen the female-led reboot as a rival to his plans. Still, he never publicly criticized the project, saying very little at all. Except, that as a father of three girls, he was very supportive of anything that might promote female empowerment.

Now, Aykroyd has seen the new Ghostbusters film, and he couldn’t be anymore impressed than he already is, according to the opinion of Ghostbusters he shared on his Facebook account.

“The Aykroyd family is delighted by this inheritance of the Ghostbusters torch by these most magnificent women in comedy,” said the Ghostbusters writer in a previous interview. “My great grandfather, Dr. Sam Aykroyd, the original Ghostbuster, was a man who empowered women in his day, and this is a beautiful development in the legacy of our family business.”

Now, Aykroyd sounds like the proud grandfather in his own right as he showers Ghostbusters and the new female leads for their comic genius and for the thrills and scares which the new Ghostbusters delivers.

“As originator of the original: Saw test screening of new movie. Apart from brilliant, genuine performances from the cast both female and male, it has more laughs and more scares than the first 2 films plus Bill Murray is in it! As one of millions of man-fans and Ray Stantz, I’m paying to see that and bringing all my friends!”

Dan Aykroyd Receives A Violent Backlash Over Ghostbusters Review

While it’s acceptable to share one’s opinion with others, even between celebrity and fan, and each of us has the right of free speech, some Ghostbusters fans are taking that liberty a bit too far by leaving Aykroyd vile comments in response to his Ghostbusters review. Just short of issuing death threats, it seems fans and critics are directing unprovoked hostility toward the Ghostbusters actor. After all, Ghostbusters is a comedy film.

Initially, responses to Aykroyd’s Ghostbusters opinion came from devoted fans; and, although they seemed to disagree with Dan, the fans were still respectful. Fans replied to Aykroyd’s posting with comments which stated they would not even bother watching the film.

From there, the comment thread denigrated to personal insults from Ghostbusters fans who seemed a little too hostile towards the veteran actor.

“May I respectfully say: Royalties Wh—!” posted one fan.

“I’d rather eat sh–,” said another.

“They raped your baby and you’re thanking them,” someone else posted.

Eventually, things calmed down on Aykroyd’s post and there were even some Ghostbusters fans fully supportive of both Dan Aykroyd and all of the Ghostbusters films, but not before the overly paranoid segment of the online community had their say. As might be expected in any online conversation, conspiracy theories were abundantly shared.

“I’m just worried people where strong armed into saying good things about the movie to help sony make more money,” the most paranoid among them wrote in part. “Why are we suddenly getting all kinds of new Ghostbusters stuff after such a long wait? Just saying something isn’t right here.”

“How much are they paying you to endorse this horrible movie @dan_aykroyd?” asked another.

“How do we know you aren’t just saying what you’re contractually obligated to say? Heard they they threatened to sue you and the other original cast members if you guys didn’t cameo,” commented someone else.

Ghostbusters starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones premieres on July 15 in theaters.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Turner Image]