Amazon issues rare statement as The Summer I Turned Pretty stars targeted online

The team behind the smash hit series The Summer I Turned Pretty have been forced to remind fans to be kind online in the wake of some of the show's star's receiving death threats.

In a rare move, the official account for the Amazon production, now on its third season, took to social media to tell viewers that "show isn’t real but the people playing the characters are".

Featuring Lola Tung, 22, as Belly, the third series of the show started airing weekly on Amazon Prime last month on 16 July. The coming-of-age tale centres around Isabel 'Belly' Conklin who finds herself caught in a love triangle with two brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah, played by Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno.

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As the programme continues to air, fans are witnessing the love triangle reach its conclusion – and some have resorted to leaving abusive comments on the actors' social media accounts, holding them responsible for their characters' actions in the show.

Taking to Instagram, Facebook and X ( Twitter) on Wednesday, the official social media accounts for the show shared a video graphic that reads: "The summer we started acting normal online."

The caption of the video post read: "The show isn’t real but the people playing the characters are." On Twitter, the show's profile also re-shared an earlier "PSA for the Summer community" posted ahead of the season three premiere, which warned fans that there was a "zero tolerance policy for bullying and hate speech".

Variety reports that sources close to the production say Amazon decided to issue the warning after seeing "more opportunity for toxic behaviour online" – namely "anonymous, overly harsh criticisms".

Now in its eighth episode of the final third season, The Summer I Turned Pretty has become a smash hit for Amazon's Prime Video streaming service, garnering a passionate fanbase.

Based on Jenny Han's novels of the same name, the series centres around Belly Conklin (played by Lola Tung) who finds herself caught in a love triangle with two brothers vying for her affection: Conrad (portrayed by Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (played by Gavin Casalegno).

Online, fans are divided into two rival factions – team Conrad versus team Jeremiah. Numerous posts mock the actions of each suitor as well as Belly's indecisiveness.

However, as the show nears its dramatic finale, its stars and creators have voiced their concerns about the sometimes harsh nature of the posts.

Belly actress Lola told Teen Vogue in July: "When people have an attachment to the characters, they want to see it come together at the end. But people get a little scary about it. Please don’t threaten to kill someone if something doesn’t go your way – I promise you, it’s not that serious."

Author Jenny Han shared her own thoughts on the trolling earlier this week, telling her Instagram followers: "I know fans of the show are passionate and no one has bad intent. But even in jest, posting images of a woman being slapped or choked is not funny."

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