This past weekend got off to a rocky start for General Hospital's Bryan Craig (Morgan Corinthos), who decided to go on a break from Twitter after an impassioned argument with what he called a social media "troll" caused him to lose his temper.
The actor took to Twitter on Friday with a message to not-so-pleased viewers. "To all those who doubt me or just have sh*t to say constantly... hope you['re] ready for what's coming up #GH @MauriceBenard," he wrote.
Things went downhill from there. Craig's parents discovered posts talking about their son and his character and jumped into the conversation to defend their son. Upset with replies that were directed at his parents, Craig responded with a nasty and threatening message of his own aimed at one Twitter user in particular, whom Soap Central has chosen not to identify.
"Hey brother, you keep posting sh*t like that about my family, I'll do my best to find you and break every f***ing finger you have," Craig wrote.
The tweet has since been deleted.
"I apologize," he wrote soon after posting the comment. "I deleted that tweet and blocked that guy, I lose my temper when my family is talked about, sorry I have love for my family."
Craig later followed up with a thank you to fans before announcing that he planned to take a break from Twitter because "all the negativity is too much."
Craig's costar Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) had urged his on-screen son to ignore the hate or use said hate to inspire him to prove his detractors wrong.
So-called Soap Twitter has expressed outrage that the Emmy-nominated performer would so easily threaten bodily harm over a tweet -- and then seemingly dismiss it. Others are critical of Craig's parents for inserting themselves into a discussion that revolved around a fictional character. There have also been calls for Craig to be censured or even fired from the show.
A General Hospital spokesperson declined to comment on the situation.
What do you think about Craig's Twitter exchange? Is threatening physical violence ever a proper response to a tweet? Is this sort of exchange expected when discussion public figures on social media? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, on our message boards, or by submitting Feedback.
To stay up-to-date on the latest soap news, be sure to like us on Facebook and follow @soapcentral on Twitter.
