Aidy Bryant Says She Quit Twitter After Playing Sarah Huckabee Sanders On 'SNL' Due To Fat-Shaming Comments
Aidy Bryant has been making SNL audiences laugh with her hilarious sketches since joining the cast in 2012.
Critics also praised her performance in Hulu's original series, Shrill, in which she plays Portland writer Annie and addresses issues concerning body-positivity.
But after receiving a barrage of negative comments on social media about her portrayals of former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on SNL, it all became too much to bear.
So Bryant announced she was quitting Twitter.
Aidy Bryant Explains Why Playing Sarah Huckabee Sanders Led To Her Quitting Twitter https://t.co/lhktgwiFpI— Sarah Loyd (@Sarah Loyd) 1580259302.0
Bryant told Shondalandabout the equal-opportunity fat-shaming from both sides of the political spectrum—one aimed towards her, and the other towards the contentious political aide.
"The thing that always blew me away was that when I would play [Sanders] on the show, I would be inundated with tweets saying I was a fat, ugly pig who didn't have the right to play someone as 'brave and smart' as Sarah Huckabee Sanders."
"The other half were tweeting at me saying I was too 'beautiful and good' to play someone as 'vile and fat' as Sarah Huckabee Sanders."
The "Saturday Night Live” cast member pointed out that the left and right have one thing in common on the social me… https://t.co/gOZrW6lGmj— HuffPost Ent (@HuffPost Ent) 1580295056.0
Here is a sample of Bryant's portrayal as Sarah Huckabee Sanders on SNL.
She continued talking about the toxicity prevalent on Twitter.
"It was brutal to me. It made me sad on both sides that she was being reduced to her looks, and so was I. It wasn't good for any reason."
"I have the odd random person calling me a 'fat piece of s**t' or a 'fat pig' or telling me that I 'eat hamburgers' on Instagram, but it feels less targeted."
"I certainly haven't had the targeted harassment that Lindy West or Leslie Jones had. These are people who I know and love. When you see stuff like that, it's pretty revolting."
Aidy Bryant learned an ugly truth about both sides of the political spectrum after playing Sarah Huckabee Sanders o… https://t.co/1pgrsSPf71— ♫ Shannon McDowell ♫ (@♫ Shannon McDowell ♫) 1580312121.0
On quitting Twitter, she has absolutely no regrets.
"I have to say, it just wasn't worth it to me. I do have Instagram. I get feedback about the show there and it means a lot to me."
"But I wasn't finding anything worthwhile on Twitter."
When asked how she would "stay sane" through the upcoming election, she said:
"I try to keep my news sources dry and straight forward. I tend to read a lot more than I watch."
"That helps me — it feels less sensationalized and more straightforward. It's definitely hard."
"A part of Saturday Night Live is engaging with current events on another level, and it's important to represent what's happening in our country and our culture. That changes my relationship to it, rather than just watching the news."
Shrill is based on Lindy West's 2012 titular book of personal essays. West joined forces with Bryant and Ali Rushfield to develop the show into a series.
Bryant's character is a timid journalist who finally becomes empowered to fight off all the negativity towards her body.
When it comes to her work on Shrill, the actress beamed:
"Probably the thing I'm most proud of in my life is my work on Shrill, even just the team we've assembled and how hard we all work to make it."
"And I think it's actually, in a lot of ways, let me enjoy being on SNL more, because I feel like I got to do the thing that I always dreamed of doing."
@latimes Love this show deeply. So excited to turn on my tv tonight and see season 2. What a sweet surprise!— Karen Parry (@Karen Parry) 1579936413.0
With social media abuse behind her, the actress is focusing on having fun.
"For me right now, the key is just to have fun. I feel like the audience can always tell when you're having fun."
"It always really translates. I think some of my early years on SNL, I was there, working really hard, but scared. Now, I'm having fun."
The second season of Shrill debuted on January 24, 2020.
Pete Davidson Just Got A Tattoo Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg—And We're Obsessed 😍
Pete Davidson loves tattoos. We knew that already. We also knew Pete Davidson wasn't afraid to ink himself up on a whim, particularly for ladies he admires. And if you think we're talking about just Ariana Grande then you haven't been paying attention. Davidson loves the political ladies — hard. He's got a tattoo of Hillary Clinton on his leg. Not just ANY Hillary, though. He's got '90s long-hair-flipped-ends Hillary.
You have to admit it was a great look.
When we heard he had gotten a tattoo to honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we all knew it would be great. But we had no idea how great until we saw the picture. It's a small piece, done in black and white. There were plenty of images to choose from and Davidson did not disappoint. He opted for portraying Ginsburg the way the internet loves her most.
The Notorious RBG.
Ginsburg got the nickname for her fearlessness, her vocal dissents, and her verbal skill. She's the most gangsta non-rapper out in these political streets.
People love her for it. So when Davidson debuted the ink, Twitter loved that too!
Pete Davidson just got a RBG tattoo and now I’m even more attracted to him than I already was— Skylah Cunningham (@Skylah Cunningham) 1542855399.0
@NYDailyNews RBG! All day!— Juleschat (@Juleschat) 1542983562.0
SNL's Pete Davidson's Tattoo of Ruth Bader Ginsberg “You know there’s only, like, one lady holding the whole damn… https://t.co/chQHutRPgR— AsperGirl (@AsperGirl) 1542965996.0
I’m not a fan of tattoos, but I love that he did this!!! https://t.co/82vxSW1smu— Judy Pokras (@Judy Pokras) 1542933337.0
#RBG forever. Literally. https://t.co/pymHBp4ODD— What2Wear (@What2Wear) 1542880587.0
Pete Davidson getting an RBG tattoo is VERY 2018 https://t.co/c10uHygr3Z— Delia Harrington (@Delia Harrington) 1542942842.0
Davidson is far from the first to get RBG tattooed on him. Ginsburg has talked about her sudden rise to rock star status and says she doesn't mind the swag or the art, but she's not particularly a fan of the tattoos. We hope she's a fan of comedy skits because Davidson and the SNL cast just did a hilarious one about her.
Get ready to have the song stuck in your head. You're welcome.
RBG Rap - SNLwww.youtube.com