Leslie Jones Won’t Be Kept Down By Social Media Trolls, And How Her Mom Taught Her About Confidence

Leslie Jones has clearly shown that she is a celebrity with a “never-say-die” attitude as she has surfaced yet again on social media. The actress took a brief hiatus after being criticized by a Twitter user in a brutal way. According to ABC News, Milo Yiannopoulus, Leslie’s social media nemesis and a tech journalist, took things too far after he upset Leslie by posting inflammatory remarks about her on Twitter.

Had fun!! pic.twitter.com/fOgvb8Uq7S

— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) September 8, 2016

Yiannopoulus has a long history of criticizing famous celebrities by being an internet troll, an online user who starts an argument by posting provocative messages on the web. Earlier, Milo had caused an uproar by insulting Amy Schumer, and Leslie Jones turned out to be his next victim as she had recently gained popularity by featuring the new all-female remake of Ghostbusters, the 1984 comedy movie.

Despite the moral support that she received from her fans, Leslie Jones took the hurtful comments to heart and found it difficult to deal with the vindictive social media bully. To add to her grievances, the Saturday Night Live actress’s account was hacked, and her nude photos and her driver’s license details were leaked on the internet within a month of facing the racist attacks.

The recent harrowing experience on the web was too much for Leslie Jones, who developed an aversion to social media and finally decided to take a break from the medium. According to Us Magazine, Leslie recently appeared on Late Night with Seth Myers and spoke about the worst insult that she has ever faced in her life.

“Unfortunately, I’m used to the insults. That’s unfortunate, but what scared me was the injustice of a gang of people jumping against you for such a sick cause.”

Happy 49th birthday @Lesdoggg! We’re so lucky to have your comedic talent. Here’s to many more years of laughs. pic.twitter.com/S4FlxWTnQH

— HuffPost BlackVoices (@blackvoices) September 7, 2016

However, her courageous spirit didn’t let her down for long, and she decided to bounce back again to stay in touch with her fans and followers.

As revealed on Late Night with Seth Myers, Leslie Jones is no stranger to being subjected to criticism. In fact, she has always taken insults to heart ever since she was a child, causing her to struggle with low self-esteem since her childhood days. As a child, the Saturday Night Live actress was very conscious about her skin color, and as she grew older, she became deeply embarrassed with another aspect of her physical personality: her height.

Her woes worsened with age as she consciously found herself feeling unattractive. Her skin color might have affected her negatively had it not been for her mother, who introduced Leslie Jones to a beautiful African woman who instilled in her the confidence to feel attractive and confident. The incident motivated Leslie to embark on a journey of positivity and liveliness: a journey that the actress remains on to date.

“People used to call me names so my mom had this beautiful African lady come talk to me. I was like, ‘Oh my God if I’m going to look like you then I don’t care what anyone says about me’.”

More recently, the spirited Leslie Jones was seen cheering the United States Olympic team by posting social media messages that encouraged the Olympians to do their very best in the games. According to Deadline, Leslie Jones was so active in her enthusiastic Olympics commentary on social media that NBC executives specially invited the Saturday Night Live actress to join their crew members who were covering the Rio Olympics.

After hacking, Leslie Jones makes return to Twitter, pledging she will “always get back up.” https://t.co/mPsOHFhJzS pic.twitter.com/IKx3Kxputx

— ABC News (@ABC) September 5, 2016

Besides keeping her spirit lively as ever, Leslie Jones also goes to great effort to maintain her health. As another essential aspect of her fitness regime, she also adheres to her diet by ruthlessly cutting down on her favorite food: soft drinks loaded with sugar. Recently, the Ghostbusters star lost 40 lbs, and she credits Kate McKinnon, her Ghostbusters co-star, for helping her to develop a disciplined approach towards her fitness regime. According to People, the Saturday Night Live star spoke about how her co-star encouraged her to cultivate the practice of exercising regularly.

“Every time we went to dinner she would make me walk to dinner, we would walk after dinner. And then it just started becoming [a habit] – I would work out, I would do yoga.”

[Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP]