Why Michelle Borth From Hawaii Five-0 Lashed Out At Fans
The celebrity/fan relationship is fragile and symbiotic. Celebrities rely on fans because if you don't have any, you can't exactly call yourself a celebrity. However, despite owing their very existence to followers, some celebrities have been known to treat their fans poorly. The list of celebrities in that category is longer than you might think, including people such as Bruce Willis and Martha Stewart. But, sometimes a celebrity verbally attacks their fans for legitimate reasons, such as Hawaii Five-0 actress Michelle Borth (Catherine Rollins).
In 2014, Borth scolded her followers on Twitter, claiming that "writing 'fanfic' does not make u a writer!!" She also told those same fans, "don't quit [your] day jobs," but then she quickly backtracked that claim in a statement that implied she thinks fanfic writers don't have jobs.
Admittedly, fanfics have a not entirely undeserved reputation. You can research — but don't read — My Immortal to understand why (Vulture). So, what caused Borth to lay into her fanfic-writing fans like that? Signs point to a small subset of viewers who can't tell the difference between fact and fiction.
Michelle Borth returned the favor of hatred
Where does the actor end and the character begin? Sometimes that is a difficult question because method actors try to get into the headspace of their roles by acting like them on and offset. However, other times audience members simply can't tell the difference, which can result in a slew of problems. Just ask Michelle Borth.
Way back in 2014, Borth tweeted about dealing with a lot of hate, especially over her character in Hawaii Five-0, Catherine Rollins. Borth wrote that she was called numerous unsavory names and that some people claimed she got to where she was by using her feminine wiles on her bosses. Borth tweeted about trying to nip the hate in the bud, but the verbal abuse she apparently faced boiled over in her anti-fanfic rant. That, and she reportedly helped shut down a fansite where some of the abuse originated, per another of her tweets.
Sometimes a scathing tweet is warranted, and many people are learning that the anonymity of the internet does not guard them against consequences.