Following online abuse, Black Mirror actor Will Poulter has decided to leave Twitter.
In a lengthy text post, the British born actor from Hammersmith in West London explained his reasons for taking a step back from the social media platform.
Poulter told his 371 thousand followers, “As we all know there is a balance to be struck in our engagements with social media. There are positives to enjoy and inevitable negatives that are best avoided. It’s a balance I have struggled with for a while now and in the interest of my mental health, I feel the time has come to change my relationship with social media”.
The announcement from the actor comes after he was subjected to intense scrutiny on social media following his appearance in Charlie Brooker’s Netflix film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. The actor appeared in the interactive film sporting glasses and blonde hair and some social media users took to Twitter to berate the young 25-year-old actor for his appearance. It appears that this experience is what led to Poulter’s decision to leave Twitter as he wrote in his statement, “In light of my recent experiences I am choosing to take a step back, of sorts, from Twitter”.
The actor ended his statement by promising to not let his Twitter break affect his work with organizations such as Anti Bullying Pro who train anti-bullying ambassadors throughout schools in the UK.
Read his full statement below.
Will Poulter is a BAFTA award-winning actor who has appeared in critically acclaimed films such as The Maze Runner, Detroit, We’re the Millers and The Chronicles of Narnia series. In Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Poulter stars as a video game developer. The film is interactive and allows viewers to make plot decisions which alter the narrative. The film premiered on the 28th of December on Netflix.