The Last of Us 2's Laura Bailey and Neil Druckmann Respond to Online Threats

Naughty Dog, the studio behind The Last of Us Part 2, as well as Abby's voice actor Laura Bailey and director Neil Druckmann, have responded to the online harassment and death threats they have received following the game's release. Laura Bailey took to Twitter on July 3 to share some of the horrible messages she has received since The Last of Us Part 2 was released on June 19, 2020. Alongside images of some of the responses, Bailey said "Man. I try to only post positive stuff on here... but sometimes this just gets a little overwhelming. I blacked out some of the words cuz, ya know, spoilers. Side note. Thank you to all the people sending me positive messages to balance it out. It means more than I can say." The response was overwhelmingly positive, and rightfully so, with many around the industry and beyond showing support for Bailey. So much so, she responded by thanking all those who did. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/12/the-last-of-us-part-2-review"] "Damn," Bailey said. "The amount of encouraging responses to this... I've always believed that good people far outweigh the bad. Thanks for reminding me of that today." Earlier today, July 5, Naughty Dog took to Twitter to condemn "any form of harassment or threats directed towards our team and cast." "Although we welcome critical discussion, we condemn any form of harassment or threats directed towards our team and cast. Their safety is our top priority, but we must all work together to root out this type of behavior and maintain a constructive and compassionate discourse." An hour later, The Last of Us Part 2's director Neil Druckmann shared some of the hate he has been getting. "You can love or hate the game and share your thoughts about it," Druckmann said. "Unfortunately too many of the messages I've been getting are vile, hateful, & violent. Here are just a handful of them (feel it's important to expose.) Trigger Warning: transphobic, homophobic, anti-Semitic, etc." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-reviewed-games-of-2020&captions=true"] The shining light in all this darkness is the support from those around the internet that has drowned out all this hatred. There is simply no place for it. Unfortunately for all the haters, The Last of Us Part 2, besides setting a new gold standard for accessibility in games, has become the fastest-selling PlayStation 4 exclusive ever. In our review of The Last of Us Part 2, in which we gave it a 10/10, we said it "is a masterpiece that evolves the gameplay, cinematic storytelling, and rich world design of the original in nearly every way." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN who wishes people would be better. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

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