The Office’s Leslie David Baker reveals racist messages he’s been sent since teasing a potential Stanley spin-off
Leslie David Baker of The Office fame shared some of the racist messages he’s been receiving online.
The 62-year-old actor began getting harassed by bigots after kicking off a campaign to fund a potential web series about his beloved character Stanley.
Baker decided to share the hateful messages to make a point, telling social media followers: ‘For those of you who don’t believe racism is still alive in the world… here’s the proof.’
Vile messages: The Office’s Leslie David Baker shared shocking, racist messages he’s been sent in order to send a message about racism in the United States
Leslie excited fans of The Office when he teased the possibility of a Stanley-focused spin-off called Uncle Stan: Coming Out of Retirement on Instagram last month.
Most people were tickled at the thought of the grumpy salesman’s return. Kickstarter for the potential project quickly hit its $300,000 goal.
While Baker’s plan was simply to celebrate the character, some inundated him with hate.
‘For those of you who don’t believe racism is still alive in the world… here’s the proof,’ he wrote while posting screenshots of epithet laden rants and graphic photos he’s been sent.
Proof: ‘For those of you who don’t believe racism is still alive in the world… here’s the proof,’ he wrote while posting screenshots of epithet laden rants and graphic photos he’s been sent
Everyone loves a comeback! Leslie excited fans of The Office when he teased the possibility of a Stanley-focused spin-off called Uncle Stan: Coming Out of Retirement on Instagram last month
‘Our goal has simply been to entertain and give the fans a quality series,’ he went on ‘These rants are evidence that there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done here in America regarding racism.’
‘Bigotry and hate will not be allowed to eradicate art or Black people. Enough said,’ Baker finished.
His Office castmate Angela Kinsey consoled her friend in the comments, writing: ‘Leslie, I am so sorry. That is horrible and makes me sad. I love you so much. You bring so much joy to so many. I can’t wait to see the Uncle Stan show!’
Leslie also addressed the messages during an interview with ComicBook that day, saying: ‘America has a very sick problem with racism and racists.’
Positive vibes only: ‘Our goal has simply been to entertain and give the fans a quality series,’ he went on
No room for hate: His Office castmate Angela Kinsey consoled her friend in the comments
But Baker said he wasn’t ignoring the ugliness, but instead confronting it.
‘In order to affect change, you can’t just press the delete button and pretend that it didn’t happen or say, “Oh, it’ll go away,” If I press the reset button, press the delete button, wipe it off the screen, then everything is okay,’ he explained.
‘America has done that too long and too often, because when you confront people and you acknowledge that these things are happening in this country, people say, “Well, that makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want to have that discussion. I don’t want to talk about it,”‘ Baker continued.
‘Or they will scream that in some way it’s reverse discrimination [that] exists, which is no such thing. Nothing like that exists.’