The recent death of former teen heartthrob Luke Perry took Hollywood, and his fans, by surprise. In the immediate aftermath of the actor’s massive stroke, several of his co-workers from various projects, including Riverdale and Beverly Hills, 90210 , were quick to offer support via social media.
After Luke Perry died, though, some of his friends and co-stars took a more reticent approach. For example, it took a few days before any of the young stars of Riverdale posted about Perry’s passing on social media. In a similar vein, Beverly Hills, 90210 stars Brian Austin Green, Jennie Garth, and Tori Spelling didn’t immediately post anything publicly about the 52-year-old actor’s death.
Fans noticed these glaring omissions, and some of them chose to respond angrily to the mourning performers instead of allowing them to experience and express the associated grief in their own way. Per TooFab , the latest actor to get raked over the coals by Luke Perry’s fans is Brian Austin Green, who played David Silver throughout Beverly Hills, 90210 ‘s 10-season run.
Green posted an Instagram video yesterday, announcing the location of a live podcast dedicated to Beverly Hills, 90210. Fans are invited to attend, and several cast members are expected to make an appearance. The event is scheduled to take place on August 31 at the Torrance High School auditorium in Torrance, California. The school is famous for being 90210 ‘s exterior filming location, along with being the backdrop for several other productions, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, She’s All That, and Not Another Teen Movie.
Most of the fans who commented were thrilled about the opportunity to see some of their favorite stars in the flesh, but a few were upset that Brian Austin Green posted this announcement, as opposed to putting up a tribute to Luke Perry.
The most notable complaint stated “I’m not sure how you could do this so soon. I haven’t seen anything from you about his passing… Pretty much everyone else had something to say.”
Green responded directly to the latter comment, saying that “everyone grieves in different ways.”
TooFab had earlier reported about Jennie Garth receiving harsh criticisms from disappointed fans. Garth played Dylan McKay’s on-again, off-again love interest, Kelly Taylor, on Beverly Hills, 90210. A few Luke Perry fans went out of their way to post hateful messages to Garth, such as “thought u & Tori were upstanding but turns out u 2 r the self-absorbed self-centered ones,” when the actress posted a photo of her daughters on International Women’s Day.
Much like Brian Austin Green, Jennie Garth chose to publicly clap back at the haters, despite the fact that the overwhelming sentiment on her Instagram post was that she should be allowed to grieve in her own way. Garth pointed out that Luke Perry didn’t “give a f**k” about social media and would have been happy to see her posting about her children.”
Fans who harass celebrities on social media for everything — from how they mourn, to the roles they take — have caused many actors to delete their accounts. For the time being, though, it looks like Brian Austin Green and Jennie Garth will be standing their ground as they continue to mourn Luke Perry in private.