Erin Moriarty from 'The Boys' has recently addressed claims made by ex-Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly, who Moriarty accuses of 'reporting false information' about her.
At 29 years old, playing the role of Annie January in the popular satirical superhero series, Moriarty felt compelled to use her social media platform to speak up after enduring 'harassment' online, which stemmed from remarks made by Kelly on her podcast.
Moriarty took to Instagram on 26 January to express her concerns and address the issue directly.
She stated: "This is something I truly never anticipated writing. We're all subject to levels of bullying throughout our lives but I am horrified, and I felt that I deserved to take a second to address these things."
"[...] I've had one of the most challenging weeks of my life."
"And I specifically thought that as I emerge from this period of time - so stressed that I have BARELY been able to eat and sleep."
"I thought, ok, I'm going to emerge this 10 pounds thinner and the verbal abuse/ accusations will be flying - usually either drug use or just flippant 'eat a burger' comment."
Moriarty, acknowledging that such comments often become something one grows immune to, was particularly disturbed by 'a message about a disgustingly false, counterproductive to the degree of being ironically misogynistic video of Megyn Kelly commenting on the manner'.
The widespread nature of this video further intensified her shock and dismay.
So what exactly did Kelly say?
On an episode of The Megyn Kelly Show podcast, aired on 17 January, Kelly, alongside The Daily Wire's Michael Knowles, delved into a discussion about plastic surgery.
Kelly didn't just label it a 'social illness'; she also pointed to Moriarty as an example of someone supposedly having an 'addiction' to surgery.
In the episode, Kelly displayed an image of Moriarty, which she claimed was 'relatively recent', and referred to her as a 'nice, beautiful natural girl'.
However, she then presented what she alleged to be a newer image of Moriarty, remarking that she thought it 'was an AI-generated face'.
Moriarty has since clarified that the 'before' photo was actually taken 'a year ago' and 'before [she] was of LEGAL DRINKING AGE'.
As for the 'after' picture, it was captured on a day when she had professional makeup done, including 'major contouring'.
"I remember leaving and feeling pretty. And even that day was an immensely stressful day for me."
"I came running to those girls and I showed up in tears after what had happened that day and I left feeling better simply because I felt like they had reduced my lack of sleep and worked their magic wands," Moriarty reflects.
She continues in her Instagram post: "How utterly misinformed, inaccurate and clickbait seeking people who we follow and consider to be informed is appalling."
Following these incidents, Moriarty made the decision to delete the Instagram picture of herself that Kelly used as the second 'example', stating:
"[...] I saw the comments, scathing enough to just turn my comments off. But this is becoming harassment. This is becoming false news."
Moriarty expressed that the combination of 'horrific allegations' and 'verbal abuse' has deeply affected her, breaking her heart.
She firmly stated that she 'will not accept' such treatment.
Despite not deactivating her Instagram account, she wants her statement to be seen, yet urges followers to 'consider it deactivated' while she takes 'an extensive if not permanent break' from social media.
Concluding her statement, Moriarty emphasized: "You never know what someone is going through, social media is a platform that is not representative of a whole person and irregardless there is no excuse for the words that have been spoken directly to me or about me. Shame on you Megyn Kelly. Shame on you, Fox News."
In her caption, she further clarified, "I'd like to correct one piece of information in an effort to be the one who is not reporting false information to say that Megyn Kelly is no longer with Fox News."
