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I'd like to review what's happened from the POV of a reader:

- People in the SVU Twitter fandom made mean and hurtful comments about Kathy Stabler, some even celebrating her death. You were tagged in some of those posts, including one that's a popular Mean Girls meme.

- You felt hurt by these comments. You saw Kathy being disrespected and defiled, and you, the actor embodying that character for 12 years understandably found that hurtful.

- You made a choice to work through that hurt in a public forum and tag the White House Press Secretary regarding your blog post.

- You disappear after posting, and the narrative is completely lost and spun out of control. The creator of the meme (which you misrepresented as it included text about it being directed to Kathy Stabler that you chose to omit) is now getting death threats. Tweet after tweet seems to imply you, Isabel Gillies the person, received hate and vitriol. You don't step in to clarify.

- Your SVU colleagues retweet in what seems like a coordinated effort, amplifying your blog post exponentially. On Twitter there's a tangible sense of "pick up your pitchforks" against real, actual people. Not fictional people.

- You remain silent.

- Culminating with the White House Press Secretary weighing in, saying that a large part of the fandom has "poisonous venom pulsing through their veins." The. White. House. Press. Secretary.

- And yet, exactly one person in this situation has received a real, evidential death threat, and it's against the person who made the meme. You wrote about mob mentality against a fictional person and incited mob mentality against real people.

I'm glad you want to talk about being kind but boy did you blow it.

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I’m sorry, but have you never heard news of real people who think the other real people who play fictional characters stalking, breaking the law, even murdering these real people who play fictional characters who don’t jive with their altered reality? Didn’t your parents or some adult teach you “two wrongs don’t make a right”. Reread the post, then T.H.I.N.K. Wake up tomorrow, have a wonderful day, and tell a stranger something kind, it will make your day and theirs that much brighter🤩

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I love Isabel, but fans don't deserve death threats. Isabel was upset that her chaarcter was insulted. They weren't tweeting at her. They were talking about her character's actions. That is something to call the writers out about.

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Agreed. It is after all, the writers who write the script.

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At no point did I say Isabel didn't have the right to be hurt or feel threatened. It's horrific and wrong if she's ever felt a threat to her safety because of the vitriol against Kathy. And you're right, there are actors who have been stalked and killed, so it's not to be taken lightly. I really am deeply sorry she's been hurt in this way.

I read the post many times, and I saw what transpired over the course of the day on Twitter. That wasn't ok either. I would appreciate it if someone with power in this situation would make it explicitly clear that she herself has not received a death threat, and condemn the meme maker getting a death threat.

And as someone deeply entrenched in the fandom, know that this is a much larger issue than what Isabel posted. This is very much about the showrunner Warren Leight and his longtime involvement with the fandom at an inappropriate level for someone in his position. He's intentionally manipulative and for years he's fanned the flames between fandoms. Several young fans have his interactions creepy. What would be healthiest for everyone, fans and cast, would be for this person to get off Twitter. I'm not saying that to deflect responsibility from our role in causing Isabel's hurt. I'm saying it because it's absolutely true and for the minuscule chance someone at Wolf/NBC is reading this. He is the root of the SVU fandom problem.

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Clarification, not a single person tweeted AT her. No one. The meme in question didn't even mention her but Isabel conveniently cropped the caption off. No one tweeted anything but kindness to her. She went looking for the rest has allowed this conflation and misunderstanding to be perpetrated repeatedly by news articles and WL without addressing it.

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I don't fool with Twitter.

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Best comment. Perfectly summed everything up. Why the hell Psaki involved herself without even researching the validity is beyond me.

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Thank you for this post.

I want to add the mean girls meme did not tag Isabel. It specifically said “Kathy stabler” aka the very fictional and not real character.

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Yeah but if a person really understands the biz they are truly one on the same. Not in reality but in the minds of fans

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I'm totally confused. I opened this post expecting to read about hate mail and threats that Isabel received, and instead it's about the fictional character she portrays being bullied?? Talk about a bait and switch. I am sorry you were tagged in those posts, that was wrong. But like...you're a well-off white woman who got a paycheck for this acting gig, how badly do you expect us to feel for you for having for feelings hurt by a mean girls meme?

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You said, “…how badly do you expect us to feel for you…”. Who is “us”? It’s certainly not me. Instead of couching your language in a way that attempts to deflect any ownership of your opinion, have the guts to use “I” when belittling someone. Gillies is not looking for pity. She’s calling attention to the fact that people are saying hateful things about a fictional character and that is tied to her person. It’s nuts how people say mean shit about people who aren’t real. It’s worth considering her call to action to T.H.I.N.K., especially since online bullying is such a problem with social media. Her feelings are valid, period. Just as yours are. Except what you expressed here doesn’t contribute meaningfully, while her post does, i.e., her appeal to get others to T.H.I.N.K., which, if applied, would contribute to more thoughtful discussions and disagreements via any medium and forum.

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Fair enough. I don't feel badly for her, and in fact think less of her now when before I thouy quite highly of her. I do think and T.H.I.N.K. but that certainly doesn't mean I don't speak my mind.

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Why did her post make you think less of her?

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She got her feelings hurt over people disliking a character she played and then caused a huge drama on the internet resulting in a fan getting death threats all because they *gasp made a meme about Kathy.

An actress sending the mob for a fan of the show is petty and dumb.

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Huh, that sucks. What’s the meme? I only follow Mariska Hargitay on IG and that’s how I found out about Gillies and her post. Do you have a link? A basic google didn’t turn up anything other than this and some articles about the Kathy stabler hate stuff, but how I’m curious

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Now*

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Like you could have said nothing but instead you contributed to the problem. Well done.

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Isabel wrote and tweeted this publically. Please don't clutch your pearls because someone with a valid point responded in a way you didn't like.

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She didn’t ask you to feel bad for her, she asked you to consider being passionate to all humans. She used her story of her own experience as a conduit to her own empathy and is attempting to redirect the personal experience emotion of the event to stir kindness in others.

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So where is the compassion for the young person who made a mean girls meme that was edited in this blog post to be misleading, who is now getting death threats? I look forward to Isabel's post on that.

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Really? Because if you check her Twitter she seems to be fine and laughing it off. If it doesn't bother her...but it bothered Mrs Gillies.

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The whole thing she just wrote is exactly compassion for the young person who made the meme and all like her who get this treatment publicly. It’s kinda the point.

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Then she should’ve thought about that before she did what she did. It was uncalled for, immature and ridiculous.

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Let me be clear here. You're saying it's ok she's getting death threats because she did something immature and ridiculous?

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Of course not…it’s been completely blown out of proportion. But this could’ve all been avoided. Why in the world would you write something like that in the first place???

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For the record, your original statement still sounds exactly like you meant that the meme maker "got what she deserved." Which was a death threat.

And she didn't write it. It's an image taken from a movie that's become a popular meme. She added the picture in. Hence the problem with Isabel not clarifying what actually happened. Let's also not forget Kathy Stabler is a FICTIONAL CHARACTER. Can you bully a fictional character? I mean, that's what's been blown out of proportion for goodness sake.

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*Publicly

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You literally said nothing helpful and completely missed her point…actually you literally proved her point smh

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I didn't intend to be helpful. I intended to make a point that equating mean things written about a fictional character with the abuse and harassment of a real person is both hyperbolic and insulting to actual victims of abuse.

I do acknowledge Isabel herself didn't call it abuse, but the SVU showrunner did on Twitter.

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Wish you guys will post a passionate call for explanation and clarification like these from WL, Mariska and Chris IG’s account as well, coz fans there seems to think that it was Isabel who was attacked not Kathy Stabler. I’m sorry Isabel was hurting but like you, I don’t agree with the way she represented the creator of the meme. I hope this girl is ok and hope the death threats stops already.

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I've thought highly of you since the show premiered. You seemed sweet and intelligent, and portrayed Kathy Stabler perfectly. I found your return performance stunning--such a pitch perfect portrayal of pain. I've enjoyed your writing, particularly your piece about early menopause.

Now, I couldn't possibly think less of you. I believe you used your position of privilege and power to misrepresent the reality of what happened, and then brought in the SVU cast and the White House Press Secretary to come to your defense against a group without power (or the paycheck to match). You took this action against a fandom that you know very well is unique in how many of us are sexual assault survivors. We're survivors of abuses of power. In this situation, only one person had power, and that was you. And you used it to mispresent what actually happened and get a bunch of famous people, the SVU showrunner, and Jen Psaki to pile onto a large part of the fandom. When a real person, not a fictional character, received a death threat, not one of those people in power said a single word.

And once again, it cannot be minimized that you misrepresented what happened. 1. Very few people (if any) actually tagged you in these anti-Kathy posts. You happened to see them while scrolling. That doesn't make them ok but it's an important differentiation you chose not to make. 2. You chose to edit the meme so that it excluded the fact that it was explicitly directed to Kathy, instead implying it was directed at you personally. 3. You still haven't clarified any of these points.

I appreciate that it must feel awful to see tons of hate against a character you embodied for so long and I feel badly this caused you pain. I understand that threats and violence against celebrities are a real thing that can't be minimized, and the fandom needs to be more mindful of choosing our words and images in relation to this. But to see a wealthy white woman claim to be "attacked" in a way that is patently false and invite a whole bunch of people in power (including the WH Press Secretary which I will literally never get past) to pile on a fandom is disgusting, and then to disappear from the conversation, is absolutely appalling.

Please use your power to help heal a community now in deep pain. There were over 100 of us on a voice chat last night for hours because so many of us were hurting and feeling the repercussions of your abuse of power...something deeply triggering for a large portion of this fandom. Where is your T.H.I.N.K. about that?

p.s. "Good morning to absolutely everyone except Kathy Stabler’s ghost." is legitimately funny.

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Gotta totally agree with you here. It was all about the character and not directed at her personally. Now she is wanting attention for being a victim or her character, who caught more slack when she left him in season 6 or something.

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Rae get over yourself .she has as much right as anyone to feel what she does .you don’t like what or how she wrote this piece scroll past

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I post an emotional, honest response and your take is that I need to get over myself? Do you think that meets T.H.I.N.K. principles?? You're still not acknowledging the power imbalance here. I am a fan posting on a message board. She is a paid actress who used her power to involve popular celebrities, the SVU showrunner, and the White House Press secretary. So yes she has a right to feel how she does and post what she wants. But don't pretend there's not more to it then just a woman getting her feelings out.

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Abuse of power? Give me a break! She has every right to feel upset about all the nasty things said and posted. Yes, Kathy Stabler is fictitious, however, all actors put a lot themselves into their characters. As a sexual assault survivor myself I appreciate what SVU does for victims but I also know that every single character on the show is fictitious sooo you can't justify saying she attacked your "fandom" about a TV show that YOU watch and call it rich white lady privledge. Your trying to silence her voice like so many try to do and SUCCEED in siencing others. Don't like what she wrote don't read it... And as fir the zoom call about her "abuse of power" for hours etc.. 🙄🙄🙄 If this letter uoset you all so much to need a hrs long zoom call then you all need some serious serious help that no zoom call will ever fix. To tie yourselves up so much about a TV show and a letter from an upset actress just blows my mind. Your whole post is just way over the top dramatic. SMDH

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i couldn't agree more with you. this caucasity is absurd and she sounds like a whiney rich lady. the white fragility in her post is disgusting.

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these weren't personal attacks because Kathy is not a person. get it together.

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I kept waiting to reply, thinking surely you would condemn the death threats that were sent to fans as a result of your blog, and make sure your followers understood no one threatened you personally...where is it? You threw a molotov cocktail in the fandom and then peaced out? What is wrong with you?

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I couldn’t care less about your CHARACTER, but how sad that you, the person behind her, had to feel pain. My oldest is 14, a child, she sings and has music out and my God she’s good , yet the haters still come out- adult haters come after a CHILD. Jealousy? Underwear too tight? Hangry? Who the f knows, but it’s crazy, and we ignore them. Glad you rose above too

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I am so sorry how violent some of the comment has been towards you however please do not take personally all the memes and jokes on Kathy. I am here speaking as an avid fan of the love story of elliot and Olivia and do I feel some resentment towards Kathy? Yes. Did I like some of the tweets hating on Kathy? Yes I did. But please believe me when I say that this has nothing to do with you you as an actor or as a person. The way you portrayed Kathy was just incredible and amazingly done. We do separate you and your character. But now that that the content of the letter has been released we feel a certain way about Kathy.

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Girl this is why I can’t stand white people especially Karen’s. Girl.. because you were tweeted some hateful tweets ABOUT A FUCKING FICTIONAL CHARACTER.. it’s okay for you to @ a fucking press secretory of the USA? You know how dumb that makes you look? Sorry if that hurt you lil feelings. Show every tweet that was attacking you personally and not your fic. character? Do you know bc of this real humans who just tweeting their feelings about a fic character now getting death threats and so much hateful tweets? IN REAL FUCKING LIFE? did anybody send you a mail or come to your house to insult you? Did anybody stop you on the street to insult you? Did you actually fucking T.H.I.N.K you’re not special nor your character to get hateful tweets bc plenty others have gotten it and will continue to do so but not one actor went to @ a fucking press sec. ? Bc of this.. you actually invited a bunch of people who you don’t actually know to actually hate you not the character but you yourself. Instead of telling people who have freedom of fucking speech to take down a notch how about you take some humor classes since it looks like now you might have some time since your character is dead. How about instead of pointing fingers and your angers at those people who you say you don’t know.. how about you tell the real issue you angry with? And that is they killed off your character and you’re salty about it. Your character was barley even on svu to say I’m too connected with the character. I can count on my hand throughout the 12 seasons how many episodes you’re on. Even if you do, it ain’t more than 2- 5 min tops. In fact you should have been proud.. people wouldn’t have cared for your character if you didn’t play a good job on it. This should have meant you did your job. The people you just gaslighted have gotten death threats from people they don’t know or might not have money to protect themselves if creeps hack their account and have their address but you will never have an acting gig ever again. Your character is annoying just like you. Your character through out the season only cares about her and you seem to be that kind of a person. It’s sad actually. Have a good day.

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Would like this comment twice if I could. Karen's be looking for problems where there aren't any.

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Ma'am. You played a supporting character on a TV show. I'm sure that you were aware of the batshit crazies on Twitter long before you trended. If you have a problem, don't take it out on the fans. Take it out on the show's writers. They didn't have to bring Kathy back and blow her up.

I stopped watching years ago. But was excited for Elliot's return. But, this "in your feelings" mess right here is why I'll stop watching again.

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I've thought since the beginning that if Elliott was going to be married to someone, I'm glad it was you. I also have a hard time believing made-up characters deserve to be treated in the vein yours has been. People need to get a real life and leave the fantasy one go if this is how they are going to go about it. Thank you for your well written and thought provoking post.

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I don't understand why people who have basically nothing good to say still get people's attention on social media. I am a huge SVU fan and I always loved the character of Kathy stabler. You, Isabel are fine actress and I hope to see you on other things soon. Thank you.

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I'm so sorry you felt that way but clearly it wasn't directed toward Isabel the actress but the fictional character that doesn't exist, Kathy stabler. Sometimes it's good to separate the actress form the character and I think you also need to do that. The words were towards a fictional character that doesn't have feelings. While your feelings are valid, I think fans making jokes and memes about a situation that writers obviously wrote it to make fans start a RIOT (just in Chris Meloni words) and have a reaction to that. It was not towards you personally and just know that after you wrote this, some of the fans who tweeted those jokes are receiving death threats. If we're going to think, then you should too.

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It’s still her face under all of the terrible things they were saying. Someone who doesn’t know the show will not know the character. They only see the face of the actress. And of course no one should be receiving death threats, but if they are it’s coming from the same group of people on Twitter. The SVU fandom is one of the most cruel groups I have ever witnessed and it is absolutely uncalled for. It’s a fictional show and fictional characters that they are bullying each other over but they keep forgetting that behind the fiction there are real people who have to take all of the heat. It’s easier said than done to say “don’t take it personally, it’s just about the character” when the character has your face.

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That's another thing. She conveniently cropped the picture to make it seem like it was about her when actually the tweet says specifically "Kathy stabler" and it's a picture of "Kathy stabler" not her as Isabel. So of course it's out of context here, if you see the tweet it's explicit that it's about Kathy, but sure she won't say that here and manipulated the pic to her convenience

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I wanted to read Alison Arngrim who wrote a book about her experience being treated horribly in public because of her mean character Nellie Olsen. I'm not sure why people online are crazy over a character or a TV show. There are also people who are crazy trolling actors or actresses over their political views. So many people are getting death threats over their opinions.

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They should not tag the actress with those rude remarks. Plain and simple Sure we all have strong feelings about various characters ion the shows we love. But to use Twitter everyone should be responsible and remove the actors tag unless they are saying something useful or kind. Otherwise it appears as intentionally sent to the actors.

No Excuse!

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That's the thing. Her w she says she searched for Kathy stabler name and saw the tweets. Nobody tagged her to let her see.

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That's strange they people tag or @ the actress for their opinion about a character on a TV show.

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That's not true. Nobody and when i mean NOBODY tagged her to talk about her character. She says here she looked for her character name and saw it.

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death threats?

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Yes. Death threats. Some of the fans who made the jokes about her fictional character and that she addressed here received so much hate. And it's not fair. Because she opened the door here for people to attack REAL people, but of course she's silent about that. Fans don't have the power she has and she didn't even let them explain. And it's not fans fault that she can't separate the actress from the character, really.

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Whatever my personal feelings on the character you played, I can seperate you from her and rationalize that you are a human being and a kind, loving, giving, empathic, beautiful soul. You absolutely do not deserve this! Anyone with a brain should just know better! You did an amazing job playing Kathy, but YOU ARE NOT HER! YOU ARE THE EXTRAORDINARY ISABEL GILLIES AND YOU DESERVE NOTHING BUT GOOD THINGS!

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I loved your character and cried when she got blown up. "You can't kill Kathy Stabler!" I shouted at the TV. It didn't listen. I'm sorry people are making stupid comments but that's the world we live in. I get them, too. Be strong (as I know you will).

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lmaooooo I just saw someone use the Mean Girls meme for one of the characters in The Last of Us. What do you T.H.I.N.K. Izzy? Should we get the White House on the line?

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I just remembered this happened and seriously laughed out loud. One of the most epic examples of rich white woman tears of all time. Way to lose the goodwill of your entire fanbase.

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