Amy Schumer has revealed that she gave Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones advice on how to deal with Internet trolls when she was abused following the movie's release last month.
The 35-year-old Trainwreck actress revealed she supported 48-year-old Jones when she was bombarded with hate on social media by fans who were unhappy with the all-female reboot.
Schumer, who has been a target for online abuse in the past, says she contacted Jones to give her advice on how to overcome the haters.
''Leslie is a friend and we talked about it. It was just so much hate at once. And you feel like it's never-ending and it is the truth. She was not used to it. I've had 10 years of people sending a lot of vitriol and it's been spread out," Schumer told the Los Angeles Times.
"For her, it hit like a ton of bricks. I told her, 'You're going to come back and be like . . . you.' And it's going to make you stronger.'
''It took Leslie Jones to get them [Twitter] to realise that people are banding together in a violent and dangerous way. And, you know, we can uphold our First Amendment and still protect people in a way that isn't careless. I was really happy to see that . . . I remember how it feels.'
"It feels like your new reality, like your biggest fear has come true. And then once they've come true, you have nothing to be scared of.''
Amy Schumer gave Leslie Jones (above) support on how to deal with online trolls
Jones urged Twitter to take more action against online trolls after she was subjected to the horrific racist abuse in July.
The Saturday Night Live star said she felt "numb" as she shared multiple tweets she had been sent on the social media site.
“I’m not stupid to not know racism exists,” she wrote on Twitter. “And I know it will probably live on way after me. But we have to make people take responsibility.
“Twitter I understand you got free speech. I get it. But there has to be some guidelines when you let spread like that.
“You can see on the profiles that some of these people are crazy sick. It’s not enough to freeze Acct (sic). They should be reported.”
“Stop letting the ignorant people be the loud ones,” she wrote. “Y’all I got more love than hate but they louder. F*** that be louder.
“I feel like I’m in a personal hell. I didn’t do anything to deserve this. It’s just too much. It shouldn’t be like this. So hurt right now.”
The hashtag #LoveForLeslieJ began trending on Twitter after Jones highlighted the abuse she was suffering online.
Leslie Jones with the Ghostbusters team - Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy and Paul Feig
Ghostbusters director Paul Feig tweeted: “Leslie Jones is one of the greatest people I know. Any personal attacks against her are attacks against us all. #LoveForLeslieJ.”
A Twitter spokesman said: “This type of abusive behaviour is not permitted on Twitter, and we’ve taken action on many of the accounts reported to us by both Leslie and others.
“We rely on people to report this type of behaviour to us but we are continuing to invest heavily in improving our tools and enforcement systems to prevent this kind of abuse.
