A photo of The Walking Dead actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan wearing a “Blue Lives Matter” T-shirt has gone viral on social media, pissing off fans of the show.
In the photo, Morgan, who is best known for playing the villain Negan on the zombie drama, John Winchester on Supernatural, and Denny Duquette on Grey’s Anatomy, poses with a fan wearing a shirt supporting Blue Lives Matter.
Following the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement that hopes to end police brutality in the black community, Blue Lives Matter is a counter-movement that grew following the anti-police brutality movement.
Blue Lives Matter started after the 2014 killings of two Brooklyn police officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, and the movement has helped make the targeting of police officers in Louisiana a hate crime. For many Americans, it is a controversial issue to support, as some feel that Blue Lives Matter is a movement to delegitimize the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement.
That said, Morgan’s decision to support Blue Lives Matter has pissed off many Walking Dead fans. One twitter user wrote, “i have been betrayed quite a few times in my life, but jeffrey dean morgan wearing a blue lives matter shirt today might top the list.” Another user argued, “oh great so now i gotta cancel jeffrey dean morgan and every other cast member of twd who liked his last instagram post.”
sincerely one of the worst things to ever happen to me: Jeffrey Dean Morgan is an Blue Lives Matter advocate pic.twitter.com/UwCA96LyJe
— Prank Sinatra (@YungBidenette) October 4, 2017
Jeffrey Dean Morgan responded with a lengthy defense of his shirt on Instagram, in which he addressed those he offended as “a—holes” and that “all lives matter. All of em.” He has since deleted the post, but according to the Daily Beast, he wrote:
“Dear a–holes. Blue lives do matter. Can’t believe I need to explain to you this fact. All lives matter. All of em. This shirt was made in response to the cold blooded murder of two GOOD cops in NY, both that had immigrated to the US, and took an oath to protect and serve. This shirt was given to me at a convention by a woman, [whose] son, was shot during what was a routine traffic stop. He was black. I’m so tired of mean people. People who wake up in the morning, and I think, just sit behind the safety of their computers… anonymously… and start sh*t. Grow the f*ck up. The world has enough horrible things going on right now without your petty bullsh*t. Speaking of cops… I’d like to commend those in blue that saved countless lives in vegas. Those first responders saved hundreds… if not thousands. So you trolls…. go crawl under the rock in which you came. GOOD PEOPLE MATTER. You? Don’t.”
According to the BBC, Morgan followed up to his statement with another post by saying:
“I stand behind the sentiment… but, what was meant as one thing has been taken as another. I understand those that are upset… and to those people I apologise. Of course black lives matter. I stand behind that. Always have. This country means the world to me. The good people in it mean the world to me… the ones looking for a fight around every corner? Racists? Bullies? They don’t. We are a country divided and it’s getting scarier every day.”
Morgan has deleted both posts.
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