General Hospital’s Tabyana Ali Opens Up About Ordeal With Racist Trolls
After experiencing vicious online attacks by racist trolls, General Hospital heroine Tabyana Ali (Trina Robinson) clapped back on social media, prompting the show to issue a statement of solidarity proclaiming, “Racism has no place in Port Charles.” In the wake of the harrowing experience, Ali wrote a touching first-person essay about her ordeal — and the lessons she learned from it — for Deadline.
In the column, Ali noted that as a young actress in Hollywood, “it certainly feels like there’s an unspoken expectation to maintain a [social media] presence, [which] allows you to help build your brand while giving fans an opportunity to relate to you by sharing a glimpse of your life.”
But the dark side of giving fans access to her online soon reared its ugly head. “It started out with the small things at first, but got progressively worse and eventually resulted in racially charged and life-threatening comments that were incredibly hurtful and damaging,” the actress wrote.
At first, Ali took the online bullying in stride, but, she confided, “eventually I started having self-esteem issues that led me to start questioning my self-worth. I would see comments suggesting that because I’m Black, I’m not as attractive as my on-screen counterparts and that I shouldn’t be in in an interatracial relationship. They said that my value and talent didn’t compare.”
A conversation with a friend, who revealed the hit her own self-esteem had taken as a result of trolls, helped Ali to inoculate herself from the hurtful rhetoric of her social media bullies. “It took some months of letting go of the narrative and accepting that I’m not mediocre, that I am beautiful, that I have value, and that I am talented,” she reported. “I look in the mirror now and wonder why I ever questioned that in the first place.”
From this new place of strength, the actress took action to confront her haters directly, explaining, “I decided to say something because I was witnessing other soap stars, friends, and castmates deal with hate, bigotry, and racism online and I wanted to take a stand.”
She was deeply moved by the support she received from her colleagues at GH and ABC. “I received calls from ABC letting me know that they were in full support of me using my voice, and they had my back,” Ali shared. “I felt so grounded and so grateful hearing from them. I don’t think they understood how much that meant to me. My castmates/friends, both within the GH family and beyond, were also so supportive. They all rallied together and shared such encouraging words.”
As for how she would counsel other people in the entertainment industry being attacked by trolls, Ali wrote, “The most obvious advice that I would give other actors is if you come across hate DO NOT take it personally. DO NOT give them your power by accepting what they say.”
Co-star Jacqueline Grace Lopez (Blaze) cheered Ali’s message in her Instagram story, writing, “The absolute poise this angel has articulated in this article and beyond is why i am forever grateful to be her friend. Proud of you @tabyanaali Thank you for speaking your truth.”
The Real Deal: Ali’s on- and off-screen friend Maura West (Ava) was one of the first to support the actress in the face of online attackers, writing on X (formerly Twitter), “I love you, Tabyana. I admire your strength and loving, open heart. You are a shining example of the best of humanity.”
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