Photo:David Becker/Getty Images for iHeartRadio; Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
David Becker/Getty Images for iHeartRadio; Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
In her new memoir,Leslie Jonescalls outGhostbusters: AfterlifedirectorJason Reitmanfor what she felt was an “unforgivable” comment.
Years after that movie’s release, Reitman, whose late father Ivan directed the original two 1980sGhostbustersfilms, releasedGhostbusters: Afterlife(2021), which ignored what Feig’s film established in the franchise.
After announcing his plans to makeGhostbusters: Afterlife, Reitman said onBill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcasthe was “trying to go back to the original technique and hand the movie back to the fans."
“I’m not making theJunoofGhostbustersmovies,” theJunodirector said at the time. “This is gonna be a love letter toGhostbusters…. I want to make a movie for my fellowGhostbustersfans.”
However, Jones writes in her memoir that “the damage was done.”
“Bringing up the idea of giving the movie ‘back to the fans’ was a pretty clear shout-out to all those losers who went after us for making an all-female [movie]," wrote Jones, referring to the sexist backlash herGhostbustersfilm received.
A rep for Reitman did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In her memoir, Jones also reflected on the racist and sexist messages she received online over herGhostbustersrole.She said she “got taken through the ringer” during that time.
“Why are people being so evil to each other? How can you sit and type ‘I want to kill you.’ Who does that?” she wrote, also adding that the “online abuse” started even before the movie debuted in theaters.
“… Sad keyboard warriors living in their mother’s basements hated the fact that this hallowed work of perfect art now featured — gasp! horror! — women in the lead roles,” wrote Jones. “Worst of all, of course, was that one of the lead characters was a Black woman. For some men this was the final straw.”
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Jones deactivated her Twitter account soon after the film’s release, tweeting at the time: “I leave Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart. All this ‘cause I did a movie. You can hate the movie but the s— I got today … wrong.”
The comedianexclusively told PEOPLEthat writing her memoir has been “very therapeutic.”
She explained, “I think I learned the trials and tribulations, how much I’ve triumphed, how much I’ve changed, how much I’ve grown. Just a lot of things. A lot of self-realizations.”
source: people.com
