Shondaland and Netflix, take notes.

Even though the discourse of blind casting is as old as time, there are still many people who rail against the inclusivity of every single show that comes out. Unfortunately, among the fans of every single story, there are people who are unhappy with some of the actors of color who cross the line and go online to harass said actors.

While General Hospital and Bridgerton are two very different shows, both in genre and in-universe setting, both have recently faced racist outrage directed at some of their cast members. However, the way the two teams handled the situation was very different.

Racism in Bridgerton

While in the universe the issue of racism in London society was resolved the moment Queen Charlotte came to power, the same cannot be said for all viewers. Unfortunately, after the release of season 3, part 2, which introduced the new character Michaela Stirling, portrayed by a South African actress Masali Baduza, she faced a lot of nasty comments.

Although some people blame the production for putting the actress of color in a position where she was bound to face backlash, as her character was introduced instead of her book counterpart, Michael Stirling, alluding to the upcoming queer storyline, that does not eliminate the issue of the lack of response from either Shondaland or Netflix.

Amid hateful comments on social media, book author Julia Quinn has turned off her Instagram comments, and the official social media accounts of Bridgerton, Netflix, or Shondaland remain silent on the matter. Protecting the actress from the backlash becomes the responsibility of other fans and her co-stars.

However, the same cannot be said for General Hospital, which stands firmly on its principles against any kind of bigotry. The outbreak of hate against the soap’s regular Tabyana Ali and her character Trina Robinson wasn’t the first the actress has faced, but the team behind the show was quick to come up with an official response.

Will a post like this across all social media platforms stop the bigots from their harassment campaigns? Most likely it will not. But it will show that the actors have the support of major production companies behind them. Leaving these campaigns unanswered only raises the question of how much executives really care about the welfare of their actors.

If you want to meet Michaela Stirling and see for yourself what all the fuss is about, you can stream Bridgerton season 3 on Netflix. To see Trina’s story continue, tune in to General Hospital Monday through Friday on ABC.