Soap Twitter. This writer was unfamiliar with it until 2021. Aside from tweeting things related to Fangirlish, I was not doing a whole lot on the app formerly known as Twitter. My love of the ship Sprina, Spencer, and Trina on General Hospital made me more active on X. Soap Twitter became a place that I could go to connect with other Sprina mutuals who were not just fans of the characters but also the actors who played them. It was the place where we ultimately welcomed newcomer Tabyana Ali when she took over the role of Trina Robinson from Sydney Mikayla in 2022.
Soap Twitter, with its vibrant community, became a haven for us, a place where we could share our love for the show and our support for the actors. While I have seen and had some wonderful experiences on Soap Twitter, I have also witnessed its dark and ugly side.
When Ali stepped into the role of Trina, fans of Sprina wanted her to know that she had our support. There have been so many great people out there who have been ten toes down with their support since day one. The outpouring of love and support from Sprina fans has been a beacon of light in the midst of the negativity. But there have also been trolls there as well. Now, I am not naïve in any way regarding the ways of Twitter. It is a cesspool of hate. That is one of the reasons I never really used it till 2021 when I met Sprina Mutuals. They helped me see the positive sides. But, over the last two, yes, two years, that Ali has been in the role of Trina, I have been active on Soap Twitter and have seen some of the nastiest and most vile tweets directed at her.
I have seen trolls’ comments on things like her hair, looks, nails, skin tone, voice, and height. I have also seen even more dangerous tweets that are race-based. Not to say that the previously mentioned things are not race-based because…microagressions, but these are extremely, and I do mean extremely racist posts. I have seen trolls @ Ali directly with emojis of gorillas and nooses. I’ve even seen those comments under her former costar, Nicholas Alexander Chavez’s posts when she would be featured in tweets with him. Chavez himself was actually asked about this during an interview with Michael Fairman in May of last year.
We all know trolls hide their hands and throw stones because they do it under the guise of a fake avatar. In April of last year, Ali herself addressed the trolls in an interview with the Associated Press. She spoke about being aware of the things that people say but not letting it get to her, a testament to her strength and resilience in the face of such adversity.
We admire and respect Ali. At only 22 years old, she is wise beyond her years and has shown great patience and grace. She showed tremendous grace and patience in her response to a troll who decided to spew insults after she attended the Daytime Emmys on Friday. Ali, who attended the ceremony, looked absolutely stunning in her royal blue gown. One of the best dressed, in my opinion. She was the life of the party, sitting with her General Hospital costars. The camera panned to her several times throughout the night because of how much energy she had. She was happily celebrating all the wins GH received, and at the end of the night, when they won for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, she did a little happy dance onstage. Apparently, that dancing was bothersome because a troll decided to respond underneath a fan’s clip of Ali dancing with “What a monkey.” I will not share the name of the person who said this because I don’t want to give them more attention. This post is strictly to support Ali.
It was obvious to Sprina fans everywhere when Ali took to Twitter to make a statement about the hate she received that she had, in fact, seen the racist tweet. That was further proved when the person tweeted to bash Ali’s appearance by posting a photo of her on the red carpet at the Daytime Emmys with the words “Sorry but taby looked horrible in this dress #GH.” Ali responded, “You think I look like a monkey in it?!”
I cannot even begin to understand why people are so hateful or feel it is okay to say the things that they say. Especially to people they don’t even know. I also cannot understand how anyone can stay silent when witnessing this. I myself have been holding back a lot, but I’m done with that. I can use my voice to speak out about this kind of thing, so I am doing exactly that in writing this. If others choose to ignore what Ali has gone through over the last several years, that is on them. This writer, who is also a Black woman, will not sit by silently and watch another Black woman go through this without speaking up. It is really disheartening to me that there are even people out there who can stay silent.
The thing about Black women is this, oftentimes we suffer in silence. Sad as it is to say. We hold in a lot of trauma that is experienced time and time again. And that is how we end up with the label of “Strong Black Woman.” But why do we have to continue to suffer in silence at all? why can’t we speak out? and why don’t others back us up the way they should when we do? Black women go it alone a lot of the time when it comes to facing hatred. We do it head-on as scary as it can be. We constantly have a fear in the back of our minds that we will be perceived in a negative light when we do decide to clapback. It is so easy to call us the “Angry Black woman” when we do. Whereas our white counterparts can do it without hesitation and are immediately labeled as brave and heroic. We are so proud of Ali for deciding to speak up about what she’s been dealing with. It was clear to me that she had just had enough.
Ali delivered quite possibly the classiest clapback I have ever seen, saying, “To anyone that hates me. That’s absolutely fine. I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, but regardless, I’m sending you peace, safety, and prosperity… I also pray you touch some grass, see the sun, eat a delicious meal, and find something to do. Peace and love.”
Ali added, “If you see anybody sending hate, send a [insert mirror emoji] so they can reflect on themselves and start becoming the person the Lord intends!”
She ended with a final final statement on all of the hate that was just as classy.
As I said, Ali is wise beyond her years. I will take Ali’s advice on not stooping to the level of rude/racist people. What I have to ask, though, is what will the people behind General Hospital do to combat this type of vitriol one of their most popular actresses is dealing with? The show prides itself on diversity and inclusion, yet they continue to stay silent when one of their own is dealing with something like gorilla emojis, nooses, and just downright hate speech because, yes, I have seen her referred to as the “N” word.
If The Jamie Lloyd Company in the UK can release a statement to support their lead actress, Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, who was receiving hatred after being cast opposite Tom Holland in the stage production of Romeo & Juliet, why can’t the executives at ABC/General Hospital do the same for Ali? As the star of The Flash, Candice Patton, once said on The Open Up Podcast, “Any time you hire a minority of any kind, you have to be prepared to protect them. In the real world, we are not protected. So just because you put us on a fancy Hollywood set, with the hair and makeup, and you assume we’re safe, we are not safe.” So I ask again, where and when is that protection coming?
