'Outlander's Sam Heughan reveals six years of bullying and harassment in shocking Instagram post
Outlander star Sam Heughan posted a lengthy statement on Instagram late Thursday detailing "six years of constant bullying, harassment, stalking and false narrative" – his most candid revelation about stardom since joining the Starz drama in 2014.
In the post, the Scottish actor said he's been falsely accused of "manipulating fans, being a closet-homosexual, trying to mislead or exhort fans for money and disregarding coronavirus advice." The latter comment has to do with Heughan's decision to stay hunkered down in Hawaii, where he went for vacation before everyone began sheltering at home because of the virus.
"I'm safe, isolated, putting no one at risk and am not a burden to the locals," he wrote.
More shocking was Heughan's decision to address those stans who have subjected him and his circle of friends and family to "personal slurs, shaming, abuse, death threats, stalking, sharing of private information and vile, false narrative."
"I am at a loss, upset, hurt and have to speak out," Heughan added. "It's affecting my life, mental state and is a daily concern ... I've never spoken about it because I believe in humanity and always hoped these bullies would just go away."
He went on to say that he "can't elaborate for ongoing legal reasons but they are professionals: teachers, psychologists, adults who should know better."
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Heughan recently did interviews from Hawaii to promote episode 507 in Outlander, in which he watches his uncle Murtagh die and he's forced to don a red coat to fight alongside the British in the Battle of Alamance. "It's very different from the kind of battles we've done before ... traditional highlanders charge, some swords and tartans is what we've seen," he tells EW. "Now we're in the age of more modern warfare, though this feels a lot more like guerrilla warfare. I think we all really enjoyed it. And, to be honest, it's something that I think we've done very well in the past but we haven't had much opportunity to do recently, so I think we all relished it. I obviously love the action stuff. It's the first battle, obviously, that really ignited this movement and serves as the build up to the independence."
Heughan has also been posting work-out challenges from quarantine for his My Peak Challenge website. "The best thing we can do is to try help in whatever way we can, whether it's to bring some levity or galvanize people to stay healthy and fit," he says. "We wanted to do something to help. This was a simple way for us to hopefully bring a little lightness to people as they stay indoors."
Hours after Heughan's reveal, the hashtag #WeStandWithSam began trending, with multiple Outlander fan accounts on social media sharing their support for the 39-year-old.
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