People have no shame, especially when it comes to their online comments. We were reminded of that recently when a bunch of trolls took to social media to exercise their right to bully a 10-year-old child.
Yup, Lonnie Chavis, who plays young Randall on CTV’s This Is Us is the latest target of the online hate, and all because there’s a gap between his two front teeth. Apparently that’s the end of the world for some people, who were bothered enough to hop on their phones and computers and let the kid know it with some pretty nasty comments.
Luckily, Chavis is wise beyond his years and isn’t taking any of these trolls’ BS. He took to his own Instagram account to share a video firing back at the haters, inspiring a whole whack of adults along the way.
“To all the trolls who have been trolling in my comments, talking about my gap, I could get my gap fixed. Braces can fix this, but like, can you fix your heart though?” he asks in the video.
“There are kids out there killing themselves just because of y’all hating and trolling and doing just crazy stuff. I mean, it’s stupid. Is it fun? No. It hurts people. People kill themselves, and you’re the one who’s making them do it. Fix your heart, though. For real.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Apparently this kid is just as awesome in real life as he is on This Is Us. And that makes us even more excited to check out his work when the series returns to TV this fall.
“I’m happy that I can handle this. I can handle this. I’m not tripping,” he continued. “But there are kids out there — if y’all kids are watching this, don’t trip. Be who you want to be. Do what you want to do. Do you. Be you. Believe in yourself.”
His words seem to be working. People are already responding online, encouraging him and sharing their own bullying stories. And not only that, certain celebs are getting in on the action too.
@lonniechavis you are an inspiration my man! You make me proud to rock my gap and your message is exactly on point. Embrace your uniqueness and live your life with happiness! No one is perfect and who really wants to be. #rolemodel 👊🏾🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/uwiwlfJkvg
— Michael Strahan (@michaelstrahan) June 26, 2018
. #Gapgang #gaplivesmatter ✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/PS4AnFgZ5C
— Marsai Martin (@marsaimartin) June 26, 2018
Hey @LonnieChavis, I was looking at old pics this weekend and JUST said how much I missed my gap. It gave me character. Don’t listen to trolls and bullies, they lack LOADS of character. #gaptoothclub pic.twitter.com/igov6foH95
— Brittany Kaplan (@BrittanyLKaplan) June 26, 2018
Now if that doesn’t make you feel good we don’t know what does. Sometimes, all it takes is the wise old words of a 10-year-old kid to give you a whole new perspective on the world, huh?
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