CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses suicide and online abuse.
Chloé Hayden has taken a step back from social media and shared that her management will now be handling all her accounts after she faced “horrific” online abuse from trolls.
The Heartbreak High star posted a statement on Instagram about her decision, which she said was necessary to protect her mental health.
“Over the last year, I have been inundated with several dozen death threats, detailed suicide prompts and horrific, intricate abuse each and every day. It’s inescapable, and is deeply affecting my mental and physical well-being,” she wrote.
“From here on out, all comments, DMs, tags and the like will be seen by my team instead of myself; and all hate speech and threatening language will be addressed and immediately reported to federal authorities before being blocked.
“It is vital for you all to know that this behaviour isn’t tolerated; I’m aware multiple of you have received similar messages, and I urge you to do the same.”
Hayden then shared that suicide is the leading cause of death for people under 44 years old, and that Autistic people such as her are nine times more likely to die by suicide.
“Because of this, my life expectancy is 35,” she wrote.
“I refuse to allow my platform to contribute to that statistic.”
Hayden then ended her message by stating her sadness that her account, which she wanted to be a “welcoming” and “safe” space, had devolved like this.
“It devastates me that these values aren’t being shown right now,” she wrote.
“My connection and communication with you all is something I’ve always found so special, and that I cherish and value so deeply; but is something we don’t currently have the privilege of doing.
“My hope is we can get back to that, but for now, in order to keep my community and myself safe, it is vital for me to take these steps.”
Chloé Hayden has more than 782,000 followers on TikTok, and 243,000 on IG at the time of writing. Considering her social media following was so strong before she became an author and actor known best for Heartbreak High, one can only imagine how hard it must have been to come to this decision.
Hayden isn’t the only star who has had to ditch social media for her mental health, either.
Millie Bobby Brown left Twitter in 2018, and has since deleted her TikTok account too — partially because of hateful and inappropriate messages from adult men. Gross.
Selena Gomez handed over her social media accounts to her team in 2019 and disappeared for four years before she returned to Instagram. She said the decision to quit social media had made her “happier” and “changed [her] life completely”.
Image: Mackenzie Sweetnam/Getty Images
- If you need mental health support, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or chat online.
- Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
- If you’d like to report online abuse, you can contact the police or reach out to the Australian eSafety Commissioner here.
- You can also reach the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 or chat online.
- If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
The post Chloé Hayden Quits Social Media After Barrage Of ‘Horrific’ Online Abuse & Death Threats appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
