TOWIE star hits back at ‘vile’ homophobic trolls who called him ‘every derogatory word you can think of for a gay man’
TOWIE cast member Bobby Norris (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)
TOWIE star Bobby Norris has spoken out about homophobic trolls who sent him vile abuse during a live-stream.
The reality star, who has appeared on The Only Way Is Essex since 2012, is no stranger to facing homophobia – petitioning Parliament in 2019 to make online anti-LGBT abuse a criminal offence.
He called out trolls once again after noticing a flood of abuse while chatting to Love Island‘s Amber Gill on Instagram Live.
TOWIE cast member Bobby Norris (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
In a video on Sunday, he said: “I’m sorry that I’ve got to do this video, but I’m just in absolute shock, and I’m so disgusted at what I’ve just experienced.
“The irony is, I can’t believe I’m still shocked anymore, considering I’ve been campaigning for trolling to be a crime for over a year and a half, what I have had to experience is disgusting.
“I was doing an Instagram Live with the lovely Amber Gill… and the amount of trolling I’ve just received is beyond shocking. It’s vile to the core.
“Every derogatory word you can think of for a gay man, I’ve been called. I have been annihilated for my sexuality and for the way I look. I can’t believe that with everything going on in the world, people still think,’ let’s go and troll some people today’. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic!”
TOWIE star Bobby Norris has a message for ‘Mr and Mrs Troll’
Addressing the homophobes directly, he added: “I want to talk to you, Mr and Mrs Troll, because I know you’re watching… why do you think it’s acceptable to sit there and abuse people online for their sexuality or the way they look?
“It’s disgusting, and we’ve seen time and time again that people are suffering with their mental health because of trolling, and some people are even taking their own lives.
“What part of this is banter or a laugh? Please, Mr and Mrs Troll, you’ve got a lot to say, so fill me in on why that’s OK, for you to say this to me?
“I’m not going to lose sleep over it, but there’s a lot of people that will.”
Amber Gill tells homophobes to ‘unfollow me right now’
Amber Gill also spoke out against the trolling.
She said: “To anyone that follows me and comes on the lives and comments any hate, trolling, anything homophobic, anything racist, just unfollow me now.
“Say what the hell you want on my lives but if I’m a guest on somebody else’s lives I don’t wanna see one comment like that, because it’s just wrong. I don’t condone it and I don’t like it, it pisses me off to be honest.”
