‘Pretty Little Liars’ Fans Lash Out At Show Over Transphobic Tweet

‘Pretty Little Liars’ fans are upset over this tweet the PLL Twitter account sent out. The show just finished the first half of the season and they wasted no time promoting the winter half of the show — but it started with this controversial tweet.

This is certainly not good. Although Pretty Little Liars just wrapped up the show with their amazing summer finale, the show decided to start teasing fans with promo about the second half of the season. Unfortunately they did not start their winter promotion on a good note. Instead of getting their fans hyped up for the winter half, the PLL account faced backlash after they sent out a transphobic tweet on Aug. 24.

After finding out that ‘Charles’ is CeCe who used to be Alison’s brother, the PLL brand decided to play up that knowledge to promote the next half of the season. However, the attempt at being clever came off as offensive to many. In the original tweet, that has now been deleted, the account sent out, “He. She. It. Charlotte.” Fans of course were very offended by the use of “it.”

The tweet has since been deleted. When reached out about the issue, ABC Family told HollywoodLife.com the tweet was a quote Spencer and Hanna have said in previous episodes. “This tweet was in reference to lines Spencer and Hanna have said in previous episodes venting their frustration about not knowing the identity or gender of their tormentor (“A”),” the show’s representative said. “It was spoken by these characters a season before they found out that “A” was a transgender character. We updated the reference by including the name Charlotte because it was revealed that Charlotte is “A.” Once it was tweeted we realized that it could be misinterpreted, and in no way wanted to offend anyone, so we immediately deleted the tweet.”

While the show is wildly popular, the way things played out in the summer finale had fans super mad. Why? Well, because the show finally revealed that ‘A’ is actually CeCe Drake. Actress Vanessa Ray, who plays the TV show villain, spoke out about the reaction towards the reveal.

“It’s been actually amazing just watching the fans react because I actually feel like they were craving it,” Vanessa told HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “Some were angry or in denial and now they’re in acceptance and they see me in a good place now and it’s been fun to kind of go on that ride with them. It’s also an episode that you don’t just watch once, you have to watch it more than one time. It’s been really awesome for me. Nothing like this has ever happened to me in my acting career so it is cool!”

Will There Be Season 8 Of ‘Pretty Little Liars?’

Quite possibly! “I think we’ll let the fans tell us what they want,” Marlene told Variety. “I think we’re open to [a Season 8].” (Both Marlene and Shay Mitchell, who plays Emily, were also very open to the possibility of a movie once the TV series ends. Even though we all found out who ‘A’ is, there’s more in store for the ladies of Rosewood. “They go on their separate ways for five years and an event brings them back to town,” Marlene teased. “And we get to discover a lot more about who they are.” The Aug. 11 episode ended with Alison working as a teacher, when the rest of the girls burst into her classroom, frantic, telling her, “He’s coming for you!” Guess we’ll have to wait for 6B to find out who the “he” is!

Tell us, HollywoodLifers! What did you think of the PLL tweet? Did fans have a right to be mad about the offensive wording?

— Michelle Phi
Follow @_MichellePhi