Just before ringing in the new year, comedian Sarah Silverman took time out of her busy schedule to show some sincere and apparently much-needed kindness to—believe it or not—a total stranger who called her a c*** on Twitter.
On December, 28, Silverman tweeted that she was “open” to understanding more about Trump supporters and their beliefs. (It wasn't the first time Silverman has said she’s hoping to change the political dialogue; as she told Uproxx in 2017, “Screaming at each other has never caused change. Sure, sometimes major protests and rioting in the streets causes change, but when it’s people one-on-one? Having a screaming competition in that setting never changes minds. So we need to try and understand each other.”)
After the comedian tweeted about bridging the political divide, a Twitter user named Jeremy Jamrozy sent her a terse reply, simply calling her a c***.
Rather than block him, reply with her own equally negative words, or even just ignore him, Silverman stayed true to her word and decided to engage with the user and find out just what was making him so angry.
“I believe in you,” Silverman wrote in a tweet. “I read ur timeline & I see what ur doing & your rage is thinly veiled pain. But u know that. I know this feeling. Ps My back Fucking sux too. see what happens when u choose love. I see it in you.”
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Astonishingly, Jamrozy replied to Silverman, sharing his own intense and personal story.
“I can't choose love. A man that resembles Kevin spacey took that away when I was 8,” he wrote. “I can't find peace if I could find that guy who ripped my body who stripped my innocence I'd kill him. He fucked me up and I'm poor so it’s hard to get help.”
Silverman asked the man if he was currently using drugs and asked if he wanted to get clean. Jeremy replied that he was not, and only used marijuana. Silverman then tweeted that she was just as angry as he was at the man who allegedly molested him as a child.
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“All I know is this rage- and even if you could kill him— it’s punishing yourself. And you don’t deserve punishment. You deserve support. Go to one of these support groups. You might meet ur best bros there,” she wrote.
That's when Jeremy agreed to go seek help and apologized for calling Silverman names.
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To end their exchange, Silverman wrote, “Im so psyched you’ll go. KEEP ME POSTED. Don’t give up on yourself. Be brave enough to risk getting burned. It’s what happens when u fight for yourself. But it’s worth it. I promise.” She then tweeted out to her 12.3 million followers asking them to help her find a neck and back specialist to help her new friend.
It's no secret that harassment runs rampant on social media. Nearly four in 10 Americans say they have been the victims of online harassment, and women are twice as likely to report being harassed because of their gender. If this exchange is any indication, maybe, just maybe, 2018 will be a kinder, better year on social media.
