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Jenny Han poses at Machine Hall on July 30, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. – Credit: Don Arnold\/WireImage<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
To no one\u2019s surprise, people are still being incredibly unhinged about The Summer I Turned Pretty<\/em>. At the start of the third and final season of the series, official social media accounts for the show encouraged viewers <\/a>to \u201ckeep the conversation kind this summer\u201d and avoid bullying, doxxing, and hate speech in online discussions. But fan battles about the love triangle at the heart of the plot have only become more intense, insane, and borderline psychotic with each weekly episode release. It has gotten to the point where author and series creator Jenny Han has stepped in, too.<\/p>\n \u201cI know fans of the show are passionate and no one has bad intent,\u201d Han wrote in an Instagram Story post on Aug. 26, the night before a particularly pivotal episode of the series would premiere on Prime Video. \u201cBut even in jest, posting images of a woman being slapped or choked is not funny.\u201d<\/p>\n More from Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n Fandoms reacting to series and engaging in discourse about their favorite and least favorite characters is nothing out of the ordinary, but something about The Summer I Turned Pretty <\/em>in particular has unleashed an unusually combative sense of engagement.<\/p>\n The Summer I Turned Pretty <\/em>follows main character Belly, who still has feelings for her first love Conrad even though she\u2019s engaged to marry his brother Jeremiah. The book series that the show is based on concluded more than a decade ago, so it isn\u2019t the case that no one watching knows what happens in the end. That\u2019s how adaptations usually work. Still, people are allowed to form their own opinions and have their own preferences \u2014 and that shouldn\u2019t come with vitriolic attacks on social media.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, Love Island USA <\/em>star Leah Kateb deleted a TikTok post about the show because of backlash she received from viewers. \u201cI\u2019m not about to fight over a TV show,\u201d she said in a new post, <\/a>noting that she deleted the video after 15 minutes because of the \u201ccomments and DMs\u201d that started pouring in. \u201cBe whatever team your heart desires. Defend whoever your heart wants. I\u2019m gonna watch it on my own in private.\u201d She added: \u201cTo be honest, I think all the characters are annoying as fuck. Go argue with the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n Drew Afualo, who built her TikTok following by tackling misogyny and pissing off men <\/a>who see themselves in her criticism, similarly found herself warring with viewers over her take on the show. Despite opening a video <\/a>with \u201cI need everyone to remember that nothing I\u2019m about to talk about is ever that serious,\u201d the post sparked backlash to the point that people who disagreed with her opinion challenged the very morals that have been foundational to her career.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the videos I\u2019ve been seeing made about me, in regards SOLELY to my \u2018team\u2019 choice for this fictional scripted tv show, has women saying things to me that are actually very upsetting & weird to see\/hear,\u201d Afualo wrote on Instagram earlier this month. \u201cWatching white women call me a PERFORMATIVE feminist & \u2018not a real feminist\u2019 solely bc you prefer one fake brother over the other, is a level of tone deaf idk how to really articulate nor process.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cUsing a pop culture reference to anchor your belief that someone aligns with BIGOTRY, is not only confusing to me but also incredibly insulting. That would be like me demanding you tell me whether your team Edward or Jacob, and then called you a bigot in some fashion if your choice didn\u2019t align w mine. Popular media is fun, expressive & important, and art is subjective \u2026 If you don\u2019t agree w my \u2018take\u2019 that\u2019s okay! Bc we can both have opinions! And i don\u2019t think you\u2019re a bigot for yours! So i would appreciate the same courtesy.\u201d<\/p>\n The Summer I Turned Pretty<\/em> will conclude on Sept. 17, 2025, at which point hopefully the mass psychosis some subset of its viewership has been experiencing all summer will subside.<\/p>\n Best of Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for RollingStone’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n