Ruby Rose Deletes Twitter Account After Homophobic Backlash For Her ‘Batwoman’ Casting

Actress Ruby Rose has deleted her Twitter account after the announcement that she will be starring in the new television show Batwoman led to a homophobic backlash against the openly gay actress.

This week, The CW announced that Rose would play the titular role in the upcoming Batwoman series. While the announcement made something of a splash in the industry, it also led to some very mixed feelings among fans. Many lashed out against the gay actress, with some lamenting the casting and others mistakenly believing that she was a straight actress playing a gay character.

As Page Six noted, that criticism seemed to perplex Ruby Rose, who has long been openly gay.

“Where on earth did ‘Ruby is not a lesbian therefore she can’t be batwoman’ come from – has to be the funniest most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read. I came out at 12? And have for the past 5 years had to deal with ‘she’s too gay’ how do y’all flip it like that? I didn’t change,” she tweeted before ultimately deleting her account.

This came after Ruby Rose had gotten emotional in discussing her role. In a late-night interview, her voice broke up while discussing what it meant to play a gay superhero while promoting inclusiveness in the industry.

“I feel like the reason I get so emotional, growing up watching TV, I never saw somebody on TV that I could identify with, let alone a superhero,” Rose said (via Fox News). “I have always had this saying — I mean, not me, Oscar Wilde — which is be yourself because everyone else is taken. So I always live by that motto, and the second motto when I came into the industry was be the person that you needed when you were younger. I feel like one motto led to another.”

Rose’s casting had also earned praise from LGBT groups, which praised the hire of a gay actress to play a gay character.

Gotham will have new out superhero! ?

Congratulations @RubyRose for being cast to play Batwoman — the first openly LGBTQ superhero to headline a TV series. ??????https://t.co/69RQgrht5h

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) August 9, 2018

This is not the first time an actor has been forced to retreat from social media after a fan backlash. Actress Leslie Jones also left Twitter after facing some racist abuse from fans due to her Ghostbusters casting and feuding with alt-right figure Milo Yiannopolous. Singer Ed Sheeran also briefly left Twitter after taking some abuse from fans, as had star Demi Lovato — though both ended up coming back.

Actress Ruby Rose has not made any kind of statement about the Batwoman backlash since her abrupt departure from Twitter.