Online harassment
After the release of Ghostbusters in July 2016, Jones became the subject of racist and misogynistic attacks over Twitter. The social media platform responded by taking action against several users, resulting in the permanent banning of user and Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos, who had described Jones as "barely literate".
After continuing to receive racist comments, Jones temporarily left Twitter on July 18, 2016. She appeared later in the week on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where she discussed the ordeal and her meeting with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. In response to Yiannopoulos' claim that he was targeted for being a "gay conservative", she suggested in her personal opinion that "hate speech and freedom of speech are two different things".
A month later, Jones was again subjected to online harassment. Her personal website was hacked, its contents replaced with photos of her passport and driver's license—an instance of doxxing. The site was also changed to display alleged nude pictures of her, as well as a video tribute to Harambe, the Cincinnati Zoo gorilla killed in May 2016 (a reference to the racially charged gorilla remarks hurled at Jones in the earlier attack). Her team took the website down soon after it was hacked.
Both incidents resulted in outpourings of support for Jones from fans and celebrities alike, via the hashtag #LoveForLeslieJ which trended on both Twitter and Instagram. Those who voiced support include Paul Feig, Gabourey Sidibe, Ellen DeGeneres, Sara Benincasa, Ava DuVernay, Hillary Clinton, Corey Taylor, Katy Perry, Octavia Spencer, Anna Kendrick, Lena Dunham, and Loni Love. Jones responded to the hacks on the October 22, 2016 episode of Saturday Night Live. When Jones appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers on May 12, 2015, she was praised as an inspirational figure by a montage of fans showing support for her.
