One of the more heartbreaking revelations of Naughty Dog's recently released Grounded II: Making the Last of Us Part II documentary was the extent to which unwell The Last of Us fans took their grievances. The worst of it, according to Abby actor Laura Bailey, was "real hardcore death threats", some of which were even directed at Bailey's newborn child.
Bailey confirmed the news in a difficult-to-watch scene, breaking down as she recalled the experience. She said that "every time I went online, that's all I saw, death threats and threats of violence." The really scary stuff was passed on to law enforcement, who used IP tracking to determine the location of the senders and confirm they weren't located anywhere nearby.
If that wasn't cowardly enough, these sad troglodytes stooped to truly subterranean depths: "They were threatening my son who was born during all of it, and yeah, it was rough. But, you know, more than anything, it just taught me to keep a distance."
We know Kaitlyn Dever will portray Abby in the upcoming second season of HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us, and we certainly hope Naughty Dog has prepared her for the role. We can't imagine going to those lengths for any reason, let alone being upset about a video game, and hope we've seen the worst of it already. We won't be holding our breath, though.
[source youtu.be, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 52
This kind of behavior has got to stop. I swear, some gamers are honestly childish. TLoU is a grounded, adult-oriented game. If you can’t handle it because of certain themes, characters, and surprises that happen, then maybe you shouldn’t be playing these types of games. There is zero reason to have this kind of transgression toward someone. Zero. And if you try and find a valid reason for it then you are just as bad in my opinion.
Why would you even target a baby? How low can you go.
And they call themselves "fans", truly shameful.
These are not fans.
By all means level your criticism at the game/story; I don't agree, but it's everyone's right to share their opinion on a piece of media.
But stuff like this is so beyond the pale it genuinely beggars belief.
I am torn regarding news like this: On the one side, they bring misbehavior to the public, while they also could encourage people to these actions.
I can only hope that justice gets served to these people in some way or another
Why would you target Laura and her son? She didn't write the story. Don't get me wrong sending death threats to anyone should net you stay in prison but targeting the people who have zero input into the thing you hate is just crazy.
Im dont really like TLOU, yet this is beyond words. Also; why do you call these idiots "fans"??
Not a fan of the games or the TV show (which my wife enjoys) but I can clearly see its a quality game even though its just a tad remastered. These individuals are truly cretinous and vile. To target a newborn baby is just asking for some truly bad karma to manifest itself upon them..I long to be that bad karma.
And yet you have people going, "no biggie, it's just mean words. They won't go through with their threats".
People who harass and send death threats aren’t fans, they are scum who don’t deserve to be part of the community. There’s no excuse for that idiotic *****.
Basement huggers Degenerate neckbeards, type of people that pay onlyFans..etc etc
I feel sad for these people that their life is so empty or bad that they would be so affected by a meaningless character and probably upset that could never have a build like Abby
The title says "allegedly", whereas the rest of the article takes it as fact.
I'm sorry, but which is it?
There are millions of nutters in the world. If they weren't threatening voice actors they'd be death threatening some other poor buggers.
Feels like a lot of people don't seem to realize there are actual human beings on the receiving end of all the abuse they're spewing on the internet. Or they realize the damage they're doing and don't care, which is even worse.
I found that part of the docu hard to watch without tearing up myself. No one should have to go through that.
@anoyonmus why would you target anyone? It's just a game for godsake
@DennisReynolds because some people need to grow up and live in the real world and realise its not real
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Remember the days when people simply didn't buy a game when they thought it doesn't live up to their expectations and shut their trap? Yeah, me neither.
@mikeawmids Ah yes, the problem is with the people who created a fictional character, not the the people who are sending death threats to an actor and her infant child.
Well, this is what happens when people have sooo much "freedom" and "rights" to be/do anything they want. I wonder what would happen to them if this case was in China for example.
@LifeGirl it is the new favorite word for the writer apparently, another article with the word 'allegedly'
Man, nothing says loser more than being one of THOSE "fans". Go outside. Please.
@DennisReynolds This assumes these people are of sound mind and can operate on normal logic. They don't and can't.
@mikeawmids
It's a work of fiction, get a life. Touch grass.
This proves that we live in a world that lost its sense of reality……
When a piece of media is consumed by so many people, some tiny minority of them are going to be complete sh*tcakes, it's just a matter of statistics. The game sold over 10m copies, so even if we are being conservative and say that it was only some of the people who actually bought the game and that only 0.001% of those people are this sort of stalker psychopath (actual psychopathy has an estimated prevalence nearer ~0.1%), that's still 10,000 people.
I'm glad the authorities were able to provide some reassurance to the actress that those making the threats weren't nearby, but it must have been truly awful at what is supposed to be a happy time.
Absolute filth
Bring back the pillory for these witch pitch fork hunting imbeciles, they're like a cult.
@SgtTruth You were doing ok until the second part of that post, when you descended into what is essentially victim blaming.
You're talking about people that, due to the nature of their job, have a public presence and whose personal details are often up for grabs on the internet, who get dozens, hundreds or thousands of threats of violence or death against them and their families from others of whom they have no idea whether they are living close to them, or how mentally stable they are. You seriously want to suggest they don't take any of that seriously and "milk" it?
Yeah, I'm sure that isn't how you would act, because you have literally no clue what sort of effect that would have on you if you were in that situation.
I feel like in the age of the internet we need stricter and broader laws to prosecute these people. I’m sure many are minor, but surely their behavior is learned through watching parents/guardians right? If you can’t prosecute a minor then surely seeing their actions affect their elders is would serve as a better lesson than “oh well, they didn’t get me cause I’m faceless”.
Don’t get me wrong the game was divisive but this kind of behavior doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. If anything it’s getting worse.
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These people need to start being punished hard. You simply cannot do ***** like this.
What the hell? What is wrong with people? Dam 😲😲
@SgtTruth The fact you point to this as a "political" term tells me enough. It has nothing to do with politics. You could have chosen to condemn the people who deserve to be condemned, i.e. the people threatening others.
Instead, you have chosen to attack people who you perceive as abusing their position as victims, based on absolutely nothing. It only serves to muddy the waters and take potential victims less seriously. It's an irresponsible and damaging position to take.
I really don't understand why we keep getting these articles. What good does this do? All this will achieve is piss off people and also give those vile people the attention they crave. Hate clicks are as good as any I guess
@BansheeNorn OR they could just learn to deal with their not liking a piece of media like normal human beings and not threaten anyone….
Now, go learn how to be a decent human being who doesn’t think attacking anyone (actor or dev) over a game is even a remotely normal response before you’re allowed back on the internet.
@BansheeNorn hate over video games? Some people need to see a therapist.
@Shredderlovespizza Yeah, I didn't say any of that, but good job projecting, I guess. 👍
People are ******* disgusting! Bad enough she gets it, but an innocent baby?
@Shredderlovespizza I don't agree with or condone these extreme negative reactions, my argument is the artist can be responsible for causing damage with their art, just as the audience also plays a part in how they interpret it. ND literally did create a character so terrible it lead some people to these awful, harmful reactions, this article/conversation is evidence of that. Both parties must shoulder responsibility. The voice actor is largely blameless.
So, this is dismissed instantly as attention-seeking lies....
Or seen as warranted due to the game's history....
Right-o
As someone whose scepticism has grown exponentially in the 48 years on this planet, even I have to doff my tinfoil hat in appreciation of the ridiculous bitterness aimed at a f****ng videogame and those associated with it.
If I opened a psychiatric practice specialising in people who are emboldened to act like complete trash online because they think it's anonymous, I would have clinics on all 7 continents within a month and the waiting list would be 2 years out. Trash will act like trash.
I really wish that these psychopaths would get charged. This is unhinged.
These threats never make sense and it's pointless to try. Normal people, when they don't like something, will use an outlet for their feelings like a rating on a website or by not watching or playing something. Then we move on.
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@mikeawmids No, this is wrong. Making a sequel you don't like is no justification for death threats against anyone, let alone a mother and her child. Naughty Dog bears no responsibility for these vile actors just because they created a story that people don't like. People need to just not be *****.
It's probably very few people acting like animals.
The media and social media are most definitely amplifying these incidents and making mountains out of molehills.
@GreatAuk you weren't on the receiving end of those threats aimed at Laura and her son, so don't act like you know s h ! t.
I think I've seen hundreds of vile comments towards this game during my time on Twitter (which I deleted last year and had no desire to come back since). And who are we to even judge how many f-ing death threats are many or not? If it was so bad that they felt the need to cover it in the documentary with Laura literally crying, then maybe we can stop doubting and start sympathizing, no?
Man, i hate when people downplay this type of behaviour. It is real, and it should be prosecuted when possible.
I agree that these people are simply not fans.
Such behaviour is appalling.
We should all be united in condemnation of this immature, ridiculous, (and likely criminal) behaviour. Such people should be ashamed of themselves. Do they even realise the harm they do, to other people, and to the gaming community in general?
Making threats to others in such a way is illegal, right?
This sort of thing only ever gives true fans, and true gamers, a bad reputation.
Holy doughnuts batman, calm people it's the character we hate not the actress.
Sickening. The whole drama around this game was really unpleasant and off putting, but I can’t imagine what it was like for Laura Bailey
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