Once again, the Bridgerton fandom has proved itself toxic-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

A vocal group of Bridgerton fans simply cannot be trusted (Picture: Netflix)

Just days after Bridgerton season three dropped on Netflix, homophobic viewers have inundated social media and I’m tired of this fandom.

After eight bestselling Regency-era novels by Julia Quinn and three internationally acclaimed seasons on Netflix, the Bridgerton fanbase has seen exponential growth over the past few years. 

There are now almost 20,000 fanfictions across the book and TV series on Archive of Our Own (Ao3) and 2.4million videos under content related to Bridgerton on TikTok. And that’s just scraping the surface of this vast fan network.

But with great power comes great responsibility and, I’m afraid, a vocal group of Bridgerton fans simply cannot be trusted.

Their bigotry has blinded them to the merits of the show’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion and forced well-known Bridgerton figures such as executive producer Jess Brownell and author Julia to hit back against a deluge of online hate. 

The most recent offence? Bridgerton’s audacity to briefly introduce a same-sex romance, while the previous three seasons (and one spin-off show) are centred around heterosexual love stories. 

Michaela, right, is the cousin of John (Picture: Netflix)

At the end of season three, newlyweds Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) and John Stirling (Victor Alli) decided to move to his estate in Scotland. They are joined by Eloise (Claudia Jessie) and John’s cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza) with whom Francesca shared a spark-filled first meeting. 

The catch is: Michaela is a gender-swapped character from the book When He Was Wicked – in which a recently-widowed Francesca eventually marries John’s cousin Michael. But now Michael is Michaela. And viewers are not happy.

After the sapphic plot twist hit screens earlier this month Jess told Teen Vogue that she connected with Francesca’s storyline in the books as a ‘queer woman’ herself.

‘I didn’t want to just insert a queer character for queer character’s sake. I want to tell a story that accurately reflects a queer experience, she said, confirming she also had the author’s blessing. 

And anticipating the furor, she added: ‘The fact of the matter is, the fan base is not a monolith, and you’re never going to please every single side of the fan base.’

Despite the well-thought-out plot, devoted Bridgerton fans flooded social media with their anger at the change. 

This is a fictional period drama where the debutantes wear acrylic nails (Picture:Liam Daniel/Netflix)

Delve into any of the recent posts on the official Bridgerton Instagram – or even Masali and Hannah’s personal Instagram accounts – and you’ll see swathes of comments slamming the new plot as ‘forced representation’ and demanding ‘Michael Stirling’ back. 

The outrage has been near-relentless and clearly an overreaction.

This is a fictional period drama where the debutantes wear acrylic nails, Queen Charlotte managed to get rid of racism in society by simply marrying into the Royal family (a fairytale ending Meghan Markle proved unable to happen in real life), and they play Billie Eilish at balls. 

Please, give me a break.

The trolling has reached such a level that now Julia herself has had to step in and address fan ‘disappointment’.

She told fans that she ‘trusts Shondland’s vision’ for the plot and conferred with Jess for ‘a long time’. She shared she was confident Francesca’s season will be the ‘most emotional and heart-wrenching story’ of the whole show.

Despite her reassurances even this post has been targeted with rage, with fans telling her she ‘sold-out’, the idea was ‘pure nonsense’ and ‘incredibly disappointing’. 

(L-R) Bela Bajaria, Luke Newton, Betsy Beers, Nicola Coughlan, Shonda Rhimes, Jess Brownell and Ted Sarandos at the after party for the premiere of “Bridgerton” season 3 (Picture: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)

Excuse me while I whip out my tiny violin. 

It is long overdue for Bridgerton to have a central LGBTQ+ couple (and even then it is likely we won’t see this season for four to six years if current production timelines are anything to go by).

The main arguments against the move seem to be that it is ‘forced’ inclusion (an accusation that has already fallen flat) and that Michael is a beloved character. Well, I have news for book fans – they can always read the book!

The discourse has already reached an exhausting level, packed with blatant homophobia, racism towards Victor and Masali, and plenty of dog whistles. 

But the value of having a sapphic couple at the heart of Netflix’s biggest show cannot be overstated. Its impact will reach far beyond the current circle of haters and LGBTQ+ fans are already sharing their excitement.

Unfortunately, I don’t trust the Bridgerton fandom to not taint this with their abuse over the next few years since they already have plenty of form.

The fandom once more took up arms when they discovered it was colour-blind casting (Picture: LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX)

When the adaptation first aired in 2020 the fandom once more took up arms when they discovered it was colour-blind casting. The first male lead, the Duke of Hastings, was played by Rege-Jean Page, a mixed-race man. 

‘With color-conscious casting, I get to exist as a Black person in the world,’ Regé-Jean Page, who plays the show’s dashing romantic lead, Simon, told Entertainment Weekly at the time. 

‘It doesn’t mean I’m a slave. It doesn’t mean we have to focus on trauma. It just means we get to focus on Black joy and humanity.’

Although there has been valid discourse on this approach (that there shouldn’t be a blanket rewrite of the horrific racism present during this era, and the questionable vilification of Black characters) several fans voiced their anger purely based on the skin colour of the actor.

It’s a familiar tale at this point, any hint of diverse casting is immediately overtaken by ‘woke’ anger whether it is Romeo and Juliet, Little Mermaid, Doctor Who, or Bridgerton. Not every single casting and plot choice can be wrong, surely, since queer people and people of colour exist. 

Although it is heartening to see so many fans come to the defence of the show, it is a long battle and I am starting to grow weary. Bridgerton fans must find a way to make peace with the changes before they destroy the show from the inside. 

Bridgerton is available to watch on Netflix.

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