Editor’s note, 4/1/2014: Kristen Johnston reached out to Twitchy to expand on her February tweets. Her full message has been added to the end of this post.
As Twitchy readers know, “Juno” actress Ellen Page came out on Friday. Many wondered why celebs and journos were breathlessly reporting the news: Should it even be a story in 2014?
“3rd Rock” and “The Exes” Actress Kristen Johnston also weighed in and was “troubled” by the reaction frenzy.
@kjothesmartass – A BIG THANK YOU for saying what the rest of us were already thinking! Kudos to you, girl!!!
— Rebecca Leatherwood (@RGLeatherwood) February 16, 2014
But something happened after Ms. Johnston posted those tweets:
Whatever happened to Kristen Johnston Twitter account?
— Julio C. Pecina (@chotzrary) February 16, 2014
I was going to retweet something from Kristen Johnston about how coming out in the 2014 isn't newsworthy, but apparently she doesn't exist.
— ben huggins (@cletus1000) February 16, 2014
https://twitter.com/MickeyMickeyg62/status/435034415492648960
@kjothesmartass What happened – where are you? Did #twitter just swallow you up?
— Nav Chan ® (@chan_Nav) February 16, 2014
Did @kjothesmartass twitter get deleted?
— Lush (@LushTN) February 16, 2014
Ms. Johnston’s Twitter account has been deleted. Why?
https://twitter.com/Come2MyRescue/status/435030497882689536
She did receive backlash from oh-so-tolerant libs, natch. She also appears to have grown frustrated with people misunderstanding that she wasn’t criticizing Ellen Page. It appears that she chose to delete her Twitter account herself. Ms. Johnston offered up a defense of her tweets prior to the account deletion. First, someone wrongly tried to blame Twitchy:
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Twitchy quoted Ms. Johnston’s tweets verbatim. We also simply gave background on the Ellen Page story and then let Ms. Johnston’s tweets speak for themselves. Her tweets were straight-forward and were not editorialized in any way.
It was the tolerance brigade who misinterpeted Ms. Johnston’s tweets or attacked her for not being PC enough. Ms. Johnston continued:
Ms. Johnston was just being honest herself! All she did was comment on the media frenzy.
More from Ms. Johnston, who also retweeted people who understood what she was trying to say:
Many Twitter users continued to offer support to Ms. Johnston.
@kjothesmartass you are one of the most compassionate people on twitter. Only those who haven't gotten to know you could think that!
— Leila Soffen ☄ (@bigfogiefan) February 16, 2014
Guys. @kjothesmartass is a HUUUUUUUGE gay rights supporter. Her point was she can't wait till we are ALL EQUAL is all, she loves us
— michelle visage (@michellevisage) February 16, 2014
@kjothesmartass Some people can't get through the day without being outraged over nothing.
— Fossy111 (@fosterp48) February 16, 2014
@kjothesmartass @Justdar826 ..Social Media is supposed to be fun..When it gets dramatic in any way, then its purpose is defeated Trollsuck
— Lon Caselton (@karaterocks) February 16, 2014
https://twitter.com/AolDee/status/434887778158256128
@kjothesmartass I understand. Going to miss you on here if you're taking a break. Love your posts x
— Sarah 5.0 (@PerksofaDaisy) February 16, 2014
Kristen Johnston disabled her account it fucking sucks thanks assholes
— Kimberley (@KimDSykes) February 16, 2014
@kjothesmartass the people who understood what u meant are the ones who matter. Anyone who thought u meant anything else isn't worth ur time
— Devon Padley (@devonpadley) February 16, 2014
@kjothesmartass you were CLEARLY being a smart ass, hence your twitter name. People are way too sensitive
— Drew (@Drew1214) February 16, 2014
Ding, ding, ding!
Evidently, Ms. Johnston is also the victim of a troll, which she reported via her Facebook page:
I encourage you to visit Steve Richards page, who is saying deeply slanderous things about me, accusing me of giving none of my income to help addicts, and questioning how “clean” i am
Ms. Johnston posted screenshots of some of his trolling and then posted with this:
I know many of you hate when I address trolls…and 99% I block & roll. But this guy is slandering me. I’ve also sent screenshots to my lawyer.
Just curious…wonder how much $$ he’s donated to addiction?
And I give these people the time of day because THIS IS MY REPUTATION & LIVELIHOOD.
Sadly, Ms. Johnston then announced via her Facebook page that she would be taking a break from social media.
I’m taking a social media break after this seasons Finale of season 3. I’m over all of it.
I’m sure you are too, and I apologize if I bum anyone out.I just can’t bear to have my integrity called into question, by ANYONE. And I believe I have the right to defend it with everything I have.
Kristen
“Tolerance” and diversity-policing strikes again? Ms. Johnston will be missed.
https://twitter.com/BlackDonnna/status/434887672159424512
@margaretcho Did u hear? Some ASS drove Kristen Johnston to close her twitter account This truly works my last good nerve #bringherback PLZ!
— Nav Chan ® (@chan_Nav) February 16, 2014
twitter seems less interesting & less fun without Kristen Johnston ☹ I miss you, @kjothesmartass)
— ? Bee Bee ? (@StillAsIAm) February 16, 2014
Indeed.
Update, 4/1/2014:
Johnston reached out to Twitchy to share her concern that some readers misinterpreted her tweets to mean she was troubled by Page’s announcement rather than the reaction to the announcement. Johnston’s original tweets were perfectly clear, but to ensure that her stance is fully understood, we’re including her complete message below. Johnston also clarified that reaction to her tweets about Page was not the reason for her Twitter hiatus.
Dearest @TwitchyTeam.. I'm not sure why you have such a fascination with the drivel I babble about on (cont) http://t.co/SWRcNSuaVD
— kristen johnston (@thekjohnston) April 1, 2014
Full message via TwitLonger:
Dearest @TwitchyTeam..
I’m not sure why you have such a fascination with the drivel I babble about on twitter, and I’m very happy you brought attention to my new little blog, kjosbigmouth.com, but it’s fine by me. Obviously, as you can see by the title of my blog alone, I’m quite aware of my capacity to say incendiary things.
But I did want to clarify something. The broohaha over my tweets re: an actress announcing her sexuality & the hooplah that accompanied it (“I look forward to the day when someone’s sexuality isn’t newsworthy”, which I stand nehind 100%) had nothing to do with why I took a twitter break.
I was sick of the infighting & cruelty I witness on twitter every day, and I wanted time to write.
Plus, I had just received a diagnosis of Lupus, so I was grappling with that.Because I’m an addict (in recovery thank you very much), keeping my twitter account up & running is unfortunately not good enough. I had to deactivate it. (I’ve done this a few times before, and I highly recommend it.)
At any rate, to answer your question…no, “Lib tolerance” didn’t “force me off twitter.”
However, I was pissed off that my point regarding the fuss being made about someone’s sexuality was so lost. I’d say 80% of my friends are gay (hey I’m in the theater), and I’m a long time gay rights advocate. I moved to NYC in 1985 just as the AIDS crisis struck in full-force. I went to NYU, and watched in horror as the population of the West Village was utterly decimated.
From that day on, I’ve done anything possible to raise funds to eradicate this disease & educate people. Last year, I was honored with the “Ally For Equality Award” by the HRC.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid18229050001?bctid=605690599001/2ngm9tu5Therefore, the fact that my tweets saying that I was troubled by all the hysteria surrounding Ms. Page’s announcement were interpreted as me being troubled by the announcement itself was very upsetting to me, and factually incorrect.
I’m not saying you guys are at fault, but your headline “Kristen Johnston ‘troubled’ by reaction to Ellen Page coming out, shares ‘something really private’” didn’t help matters.
You quoted me verbatim, it’s true. However, you took a word or 2 from this tweet and another from a different tweet…thereby presenting my words and thoughts out of context.Think about it: if we took one word here, one word there from ANYONE’S twitter feed you could come up with countless shocking headlines. Like Frankenstien, you could create anything. Hell, you could even make Sarah Palin sound witty, using her very own words!! (Oh no she di-int!)
You broke no journalistic rules, and I aint mad atcha. It isn’t your fault people glance at a headline, misread it and then have a knee-jerk reaction to it.
It reminds me of this interview I gave with Huff Post. Corey Monteith had just died, nobody even knew the official cause of his death yet. I was talking to them about something else related to addiction, and they asked me my thoughts on his passing. I said something along the signs of how awful it was, and that we didn’t know the reason yet. Prompted, I said that if it was indeed drugs, it would be so sad, but I wouldn’t be shocked. After all, this is a disease that kills people.
And Mr. Montieths recent struggles with addiction were well documented.Within an hour, I was getting death threats on twitter. A wall of hurt & rage steamrolled me. I finally figured out why: Huff Post tweeted something like “Kristen Johnston not shocked by Montieth’s death”
Was that what I said? Yes.
But it was taken out of context.
I mean, OF COURSE the death of a young man in the prime of his life is shocking.
Sadly, drug OD’s kill 100 people a day, many of them young.Anyway, the bottom line is, I got no problem with people getting mad at me. But I’d much prefer it be over something I ACTUALLY MEANT than a salacious frankenstien headline.
Not to mention, these things are then picked up by other internet sites and suddenly I’m a gay-basher who’s blasé about death. You know how it goes….
Respect & all that crap
Kristen Johnston
aka @kjothesmartass
Related:
Kristen Johnston ‘troubled’ by reaction to Ellen Page coming out, shares ‘something really private’
Full Twitchy coverage of Kristen Johnston
‘It’s 2013′: NBA’s Jason Collins comes out as gay; Clinton swoons, others yawn ‘who cares?’
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