Ben Platt Says The Reaction To Him In “Dear Evan Hansen” Ran Him Off Twitter

Last year, Twitter dragged the movie version of Dear Evan Hansen, and went in on how Ben Platt played a teenage boy who did NOT suffer from Benjamin Button syndrome even though he looked much older than high school age. At the time, Ben Platt responded to the hate, calling it “randos being jerks” on Twitter. And now, Ben reveals that the treatment actually ran him off Twitter, and he learned at that time that Twitter was actually very mean. WHAT!? Twitter is a cesspool of anonymous people making outrageously offensive remarks?! I am shocked! Next, you’ll tell me that when Elon Musk officially bought Twitter, the use of slurs jumped 500%! I will not believe you!

During an interview with The New York Times, Ben spoke about how the reaction to him being an old teenager actually affected him, despite his dismissing criticisms at the time. Last year, he suggested the movie wouldn’t have even been made without him because he workshopped the character since its stage musical days and was involved for so long with the project. So long he aged out of it, perhaps? But I don’t want to pile on to Ben again, so I won’t point out that regardless of how old he looked, critics thought the movie was shit. Here’s the trailer if you want a refresher:

Ben says that our collective reactions to his character caused him to realize “how horrific” the internet can be. via People:

“[The movie] was definitely a disappointing experience, and difficult, and it definitely opened my eyes to the internet and how horrific it can be,” Platt told the outlet. “You’d think, after doing Dear Evan Hansen onstage for four years, I would have already known that.”

“I try my best to focus on people who tell me it was moving to them and they really felt seen by it,” he added. “It is very easy for the good to get drowned out by the bad.”

…In the NYT profile, the actor and singer said he has stopped using Twitter, which he said “is almost exclusively for tearing people down.”

“I wasn’t getting anything positive, and it’s been really nice to be away,” Platt said of the social media platform.

You know, maybe it was fitting for Ben to play a youngin’. I mean, he barely learned how much of a horror show the internet can be. So while on the outside, he may have been giving “suburban dad accountant,” on the inside has giving “sweet summer child.”

Pic: Roger Wong/INSTARimages