The team behind iCarly will not tolerate racism
Laci Mosley was recently cast in Paramount+'s iCarly reboot as Carly's best friend Harper.
Following the announcement, Laci received horrific racist abuse online, and the iCarly team won't stand for it.
Many believed Laci was the show's replacement for Jennette McCurdy's character, Sam.
Sam was Carly's best friend in the original series which ran for five seasons in 2007.
But Jennette made it clear in a March interview that she has no interest in returning to acting.
The racism
After it was announced that Laci would be playing Carly's BFF, online trolls attacked her with racist messages.
According to People, Laci shared screenshots of the some of the messages she received on Instagram Stories.
She captioned her post, 'Get the f**k out of my comments with this fu***ng racist a** bulls**t.'
'You will be blocked and you will never see me again honey,' she continued.
'I've been deleting and blocking people but I can't be bothered anymore. Stay mad.'
'I felt silly being upset by racism cause it's just how this terrible planet is but sometimes it still catches me off guard.'
Laci also tweeted, 'My sister telling me that she saw several videos about me on TikTok being racist as f**k broke my heart.'
'Me and my sister are 13 years apart she’s like my child and her having to see this sh*t broke me.'
'I don’t know what’s wrong with you people but you need to seek help.'
I’m gonna thug it out y’all can’t break me. I’ve been through too much. But fuck you weirdos, being a Black woman is so hard but so lit I’m gonna go harder you’ll be mad forever. ✌🏾
— SCAM GODDESS (@DivaLaci) May 17, 2021
Laci later apologised for cursing so much.
She tweeted, 'I shouldn’t have been cursing in this response but I was really caught off guard by the onslaught of racist trolls.'
'I deleted a lot of comments but they keep coming on every platform.'
I shouldn’t have been cursing in this response but I was really caught off guard by the onslaught of racist trolls. I deleted a lot of comments but they keep coming on every platform. Being a Black woman is exhausting. We all deserve better. https://t.co/loecK9vshr
— SCAM GODDESS (@DivaLaci) May 17, 2021
Laci also addressed the onslaught of backlash in a post on her Instagram grid.
She gushed over the show runners and the cast and crew who put so much work into bringing the reboot to life.
That's why she was, 'shocked,' when all this hard work was, 'overshadowed,' by the most racism she's experienced in her life.
The iCarly team speak up
It wasn't long before the team behind iCarly released a statement on the show's official Instagram account.
They began, 'Our company is proud to uphold the values of inclusivity and collaboration, where we work to embrace new and diverse voices, act with care and work together.'
'The upcoming Paramount+ iCarly series is one of many examples of this commitment, and we support our entire cast and crew and stand against all instances of hate and racism.'
The post is captioned, 'We stand with the iCarly cast.'
Each iCarly cast member reposted the statement to their respective Instagram accounts to show their support for Laci.
The writers
And one of the show's writers, Franchesca Ramsey, tweeted, 'Hey #iCarly tweeps!'
'I'm seeing a looooot of racist abuse being hurled at one of our stars & I'd love if you'd join me in calling it out it when/if you see it.'
Read Franchesca's Twitter thread below:
I’m sad this has to be said but if I’m being honest...I kinda expected it. And I hate that. It’s heart breaking that Black women just EXISTING results in an onslaught of racist abuse. It’s not ok. And being a bystander isn’t ok either. pic.twitter.com/hz7FtiBF7R
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) May 16, 2021
As difficult as it may be to accept, things change! People are allowed to grow and evolve just like your favorite tv shows, musicians, actors, friends etc. something changing doesn’t erase/replace the original nor does it lessen its importance in your life.
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) May 16, 2021
#iCarly #iCarlyreboot pic.twitter.com/x1TPg7X34w
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) May 17, 2021
The iCarly revival arrives on Paramount+ June 17th, and we can't wait to see Laci in her new role.
