A racist Facebook group has revealed their plans to try and bring down Black Panther’s score on Rotten Tomatoes.
After the release of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” a small minority of movie fans were so furious at the blockbuster they vowed vengeance in the form of the Facebook group called Down With Disney’s Treatment Of Franchises And Its Fanboys.
They took umbrage with the fact “The Last Jedi” had introduced so many female characters, that Poe Dameron was allegedly a “victim of the anti-mansplaining movement,” and that Poe and Luke Skywalker were being “turn[ed] gay.”
Those really dedicated to this cause then headed over to the Rotten Tomatoes page for “The Last Jedi” and gave it a negative score. They feel like they have succeeded, too, because “The Last Jedi’s” audience score is at just 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, while its score from critics is all the way up at 91%.
Clearly they were rather buoyed by this triumph, as the Facebook group recently set its sights at “Black Panther,” creating an event called, “Give Black Panther A Rotten Audience Score On Rotten Tomatoes.”
The event creator laid out his plans by also writing, “Given the massive success of the audience review rigging on the Rotten Tomatoes site for ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi,’ and due to the sudden rise in those disgruntled with Disney business practices, among other factors, especially due to the corporate manipulations which created falsified bad press for the DCEU [DC Extended Universe], I feel that it’s time to strike back at all those under Disney and bring down the house of mouse’s actions for paying off the critics that hurt DC Comics on film and for other parties affected by them.”
On Thursday night, though, Rotten Tomatoes released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter condemning the Facebook group, as well as insisting that they will block any attempts to sabotage “Black Panther’s” score.
“We at Rotten Tomatoes are proud to have become a platform for passionate fans to debate and discuss entertainment and we take that responsibility seriously. While we respect our fans’ diverse opinions, we do not condone hate speech.”
“Our team of security, network, and social experts continue to closely monitor our platforms and any users who engage in such activities will be blocked from our site and their comments removed as quickly as possible.”
The Facebook group, which had around 3,700 members, has since been deactivated.
“Black Panther” is being released on February 16.
