Outlander's Sam Heughan details "6 years of bullying, harassment, stalking" from fans
Outlander star Sam Heughan issued an impassioned plea for restraint on social media this week, outlining what he describes as “Six years of constant bullying, harassment, stalking, and false narratives” that he’s been subjected to ever since the Starz series first began airing back in 2014. Although his description of the crappy treatment he’s received from “fans” was fairly wide-ranging—including reported hacking attempts and death threats—Heughan seemed especially angry over accusations that he was harming others by self-quarantining in Hawaii, where he was vacationing when the full extent of the COVID-19 lockdowns became apparent.
All in all, it’s a pretty explosive burst of misery, with Heughan calling out years’ worth of “personal slurs, shaming, abuse, death threats, stalking, sharing of private information, and vile false narrative.” He also mentioned what certainly sounds like potential legal proceedings against multiple “adults who should know better,” before noting that one of the reasons he’s staying in Hawaii right now is because he’s nervous about taking the 20-hour flight back to the U.K.
Although Heughan had a regular career in British TV throughout the 2000s, he didn’t gain international prominence until being cast as strapping—we’re contractually obligated to refer to him as “strapping”—Scottish noble Jamie in the Diana Gabaldon adaptation. (He also recently appeared in Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot, although we’re going to go ahead and assume that those fans aren’t necessarily the problem here.) He ended his statement with a thank you to those Outlander fans who have not tried to hack his private accounts or said they wanted to kill him, because it’s always good to acknowledge in these rough times who the true heroes really are.