There's a lot of talk about toxic fandoms nowadays. It seems as though fans take things far too seriously regardless of what they're passionate about. Even Rachel Lindsay of The Bachelor believes Bachelor Nation is toxic. And everyone knows just how brutal Star Wars fans can be. It may make celebrities think twice about being involved with these high-profile projects. Then again, HBO's Euphoria's fan base didn't start out toxic. But with the increase of popularity due to the second season, the fanbase grew.
While most Euphoria fans just love delving into the explosive, sexy, and downright ludicrous lives of the characters, others represent what's wrong with Hollywood and fandoms in general. There's something negative to be said about those who hate-watch Euphoria, but those who threaten or harass the cast and crew are another thing entirely. The cast of Euphoria has complained about some of the online bullyings they've faced at the hands of fans. It seems to come with the territory. But the things totally got out of hand when they targeted a woman in Toronto with no affiliation to the show.
Euphoria Fans Bullied A Toronto Woman With The Same Name As The Creator
According to BlogTO, some less than pleasant Euphoria fans started bullying and threatening a woman with the exact same name as the creator of the show. Of course, Euphoria is roughly based on an Israeli series of the same name. But it's Sam Levinson who really took the idea and made it extremely personal as well as gave it a life of its own. Fans see him as the man to thank or blame for every creative decision on the show.
Toronto's female Sam Levinson wasn't even a 'Levinson' to begin with. She was a 'Fairbloom'. But her recent name change (thanks to getting married to Adam Levinson) brought on an unintended consequence. Despite running a hand sanitizer business in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and having absolutely nothing to do with the show, fans believed her to be HBO's Sam Levinson. And these aren't the happy fans... these are the angry fans. They started messaging her on Instagram (despite her name not even being present on her profile) and threatening her.
Among the many messages leveled at her in her DMs and in the comment section of her photos were straight-up concerning threats.
"If anything happens to Fez and Ashtray I will personally find you and hunt you down for the rest of my life," one Euphoria fan sent to her in her DMs.
Another fan, referring to Barbie Ferreira's diminished presence in the second season, wrote, "What the f*** is wrong with you? You are a horrible person. How could you cut kat out. Your being kinda fatphobic right now. And your name is Sam.. you cant be talking. How could u cut kats line out dumb b****. No wonder ur name is Sam."
- Fans have speculated that Euphoria creator Sam Levinson had a falling out with Barbie Ferreira and cut out many of her scenes in season two.
- According to Decider, Barbie Ferreira stormed off set at least twice during the production of season two.
While Toronto's Sam Levinson has said that she has responded to these comments once or twice, she actually hasn't engaged with the fans much. This is because she's afraid of them taking things even further or hacking her account again. She was hacked once on her wedding day back in August, although it's unclear if it was a Euphoria fan who did it.
Sam has stated that she's not even a fan of the show and has only seen two episodes, making the whole situation she's in even more surreal. Even though she adjusted her Instagram bio to read "Not The Creator Of Euphoria" and posted about BlogTO's story, some fans still didn't get the message. One fan commented about how they would be "unhappy" if anything "bad happens to Fez".
It never ends.
Even still, Sam has clearly tried to take the whole messed-up situation in stride. She even is running a promo where people can get 10% off her company Dom's products with the code 'EUPHORIA'.
Sam appears to have a pretty healthy perspective about what's going on in her life. But that doesn't mean it's not a good example of what's wrong with fandoms and Hollywood.
Euphoria Is Becoming One Of The Craziest And Most Toxic Fandoms
While there is no shortage of crazy and toxic fandoms, particularly when it comes to music, Euphoria's fanbase is swiftly becoming a bad one. By harrassing the cast, the creator, and especially a random woman with the same name as the creator, they are proving themselves to be a prime example of what's wrong in Hollywood.
Instead of just liking or disliking a show, fans nowadays are emboldened to speak out about it. Blame social media. But blame Hollywood for giving these social media users a voice. Instead of making quality entertainment that people either gravitate to or don't more and more studios and networks look to Twitter and Instagram to see what people are saying. What they don't seem to be considering is that only the very angry use their voice on social media. And you have to be a very angry or utterly delusional person to message up a stranger with a familiar name and threaten their life...
