Roxane Gay, a liberal columnist for the New York Times, said she blocked several of her critics on Twitter who opposed her recent piece about the “Roseanne” reboot because she found them “irritating.”
Gay wrote last week that she “enjoyed” the show’s debut, which drew more than 18 million viewers, but that she would not watch further episodes because, “This fictional family, and the show’s very real creator, are further normalizing [President] Trump and his warped, harmful political ideologies.”
When some people on Twitter questioned Gay’s logic, she blocked them.
One user going by the name @myspecialmagic sent a tweet to Gay on Wednesday, for the show’s second edition of the new series, asking, “Does your op-ed still stand or…?”
Gay replied that she “just spoke to 1,000 people and received a standing ovation. No time for TV tonight.” She added, “My op-ed also stands. I’m not watching that show.”
Gay then blocked @myspecialmagic, whose real name is Robert McCready, he told the Washington Examiner.
Reached by email for comment, Gay said, “I said what I had to say about Roseanne in my essay. I don’t owe anyone my time or engagement beyond that. People are free to ask whatever questions they want and I am free to ignore them. I do not get paid to be on Twitter so I block people who are irritating, such as yourself. It’s not about insecurity, in the least. It’s about making choices about how I spend my free time.”
She also said that she prefers to addressed as “Dr. Gay.”
The “Roseanne” reboot stirred some controversy when in the first episode the show’s main character said she was a Trump supporter.
Gay appears to frequently block people on Twitter who criticize her or her work. A search for her username and “blocked” turns up dozens of results of people claiming that she blocked them, some of whom said they were confused as to why.
