Today in "the internet is the worst," we have grown adults bullying a child.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Avengers: Endgame actress Lexi Rabe had to post a video asking fans to stop bullying her, and it is heartbreaking.
Be warned: there's spoilers in this story, so tread lightly if you still (somehow) haven't seen Avengers: Endgame.
Even though her role was a small one, it was one of the most important in the franchise.
The daughter of Iron Man and Rescue, aka Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, Morgan Stark was a key part of Tony's story in Endgame.
When Tony was tucking her into bed, he said, "I love you tonnes."
Morgan responded, "I love you 3000."
Later in the movie, Tony's hologram says "I love you 3000" to Morgan, after his death.
According to Anthony Russo, one of the directors of the film, "I love you 3000" was a line Robert Downey Jr brought to the movie.
"He said that one of his children once told him, 'I love you 3000.' We told the story to the screenwriters, and eventually it became a line in the script." He said.
After Avengers: Endgame, she worked on the recently-released Godzilla: King of Monsters.
Now, she's shooting Silk Road, alongside Riverdale's Cole Sprouse, and Westworld's Jimmi Simpson.
This girl is so freakin' cool, guys.
Lexi and her family had to post a plea to fans to stop bullying them after a few run-ins.
It seems the crux of the issue is fans who were not pleased with how Lexi behaved when they met her while out and about. I guess they didn't get the memo that she's a little girl.
She began, "Hi, I'm Lexi Rabe, and I'm only 7 years old."
Because apparently, some adults have forgotten that this is a tiny kid! Who doesn't owe anyone anything, and who is being bullied!
She continued, "And I mess up sometimes. So, my mom and dad give me tons of talking tos, and time-outs, believe me."
The fact that they have to tell the world how they discipline their child is nuts.
"And if I go anywhere, and I'm acting a little silly, or messed up or anything like that, um, I'm seven years old."
It sounds like even she knows how weird all of this is.
"Please don't bully my family. Or me. Bye! Love you 3000!"
She blew a kiss at the camera and waved goodbye.
PS, I'm not crying at her using "Love you 3000," you are.
Her mom pled for a little leeway in the post:
"Please keep your opinions to yourself so Lexi can grow up in the free world. She’s a normal human being and she’s a child."
"Sometimes were rushing from place to place stressed like everyone else to get to set on time or work or whatever and we seem a little grumpy.
I’m sorry if you see us this way but that’s life!"
"If your child is so scared to be themselves in public and mess up a little then you’re over parenting.
We give our children plenty of rules and boundaries But then give them the freedoms to mess up and learn from their own mistakes."
"So if you see us in public and think you have the right to judge. Wait.
Number one until you have children of your own, and Number two realize that we’re not perfect and we’re not claiming to be!"
"But just try to realize the different strokes for different folks what you do with your kids may work for you and what I do with my kids works well for me.
My children love me and respect me even if they act out sometimes. Thank you! Jessica!"
In the interview, Lexi's mother said there had been a previous incident where Lexi had been playing with her brother in public, and someone who witnessed this sent a message online to her.
"Online we got a message that she was acting out in public," her mother said. "Meanwhile we were trying to get stuff ready for a premiere we were going to, and we were tired and we were sick..."
"I guess this woman was upset that she didn't get to come up to us and talk to us, because we were tired and we weren't in a great mood. If she would have come up to us, we would have said, 'Hello.' But she didn't."
She added, "I don't know why you need to get mad at us because we're not available. You know we're normal people, we have busy lives like everybody else."
The teenage cast of Stranger Things have also faced a lot of online harassment, sometimes for similar reasons as Lexi.
In 2017 a fan tweeted a video calling Finn "heartless" for not being stopping and greeting the fans waiting for him personally, despite giving everyone a quick 'hello.'
Shannon stood up for Finn, saying no actor is obligated to spend time with fans, and that so much attention at such a young age can be extremely intimidating.
When people online began creating fake tweets with homophobic messages attributed to Millie, the negative attention became so strong that Millie eventually deleted her Twitter page.
It looks like people really need to take the message of Lexi Rabe's Instagram video to heart, and stop expecting so much out of these young celebrities.
You can watch the whole thing for yourself here.
Along with Jessica's words, it's really heartwarming to read all of the supportive comments that fans left.
Not all fans are bad, and they're proof of that.
