“The Walking Dead” actor Josh McDermitt has shut down his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts after receiving several scary Death threats. Fans of the show will know him as Eugene Porter, who recently joined up with the notorious and brutal Negan and his Saviors gang. Many fans were upset, considering him a traitor, but some took their upset a little too far.

Josh McDermitt of ‘The Walking Dead’ posts on Facebook Live

McDermitt posted a final video on Facebook Live before closing his account, to explain what was happening and why he was disconnecting from social media.

His statement basically said that people should not send him death threats, because he was going to report all that s**t to the police.

He went on to say he was sick of the death threats, saying people can hate Eugene – he doesn’t care. McDermitt went on to argue that they were wrong to do that, but that people are free to think whatever they want. However when people start saying they hope he will die, it’s a different story, adding that he doesn’t know if they are talking about him, in person, or his character, Eugene. He closed his message by telling people to stop complaining about everything online, adding they should rather spend some time with their family, friends or loved ones.

This latest incident of online harassment came from Eugene’s storyline in season 7 of “The Walking Dead.” However, McDermitt was known for previously calling out online body-shamers who had targeted his co-star, Alanna Masterson.

The internet is ‘frustrating’ sometimes

Speaking to the Huffington Post, McDermitt says the internet is very frustrating, as people use it anonymously as a platform to say whatever they want. They can hide behind an anonymous persona and say the “most racist, vile, stupid crap." He particularly referred to the online persona @GrimesLovesMcDermitt.

McDermitt continued by saying that a lot of the time he feels like the people making the posts are just kids. According to McDermitt, people need to chill out and stop putting that “crap” online, adding that it is very disturbing.

As noted by HuffPost, after Eugene joined Negan’s gang on “The Walking Dead,” at first the reaction was great.

McDermitt said he had been worried after having said the words “I’m Negan,” thereby pledging allegiance to the “dark side.” He believed he was going to “catch a lot of flak” for the storyline, but added that fans understand who Eugene is and the type of position he found himself in and they tended to forgive him.

People take 'The Walking Dead' too seriously

However, he went on to say some people look at “The Walking Dead” as if it was a documentary. Those fans come after the actors, asking them how they can go against Rick. McDermitt stresses that this is a story and that it’s fiction, telling fans to simmer down. At that stage, the response had been overwhelmingly positive, but now things have changed.

Despite the recent death threats, forcing McDermitt to shut down his social media connections, many fans are still thoroughly behind the actor and his TWD character, Eugene.
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