The Reason the Internet Doesn’t Believe Usher’s STD Accuser is Absolutely Disgusting

Lena Finkel
Posted by Lena Finkel August 7, 2017
usher herpes
source: Twitter

A quick reminder that the internet can be a horrible, horrible place.

Recently a young woman named Quantasia Sharpton came forward with a lawsuit against Usher —yes, that Usher — that he exposed her to herpes. Even though she is negative for the STD, she says she feels quite violated and is suing him for refusing to disclose the information prior to their sexual encounter.

Today, Sharpton went public with her lawyer during a press conference and Twitter has responded in the most disgusting way. Many have launched heinous attacks on Sharpton because of her size, claiming that it was impossible that Usher would sleep with her. They’ve called her horrible names and made snide jokes at her expense.

If you thought body shaming was dead, all you need to do is go on Twitter. While we’ve made some amazing strides in the last few years (cue Ashley Graham, Danielle Brooks, and more), clearly not much is changed.

As journalist and fat activist Lindy West has pointed out on numerous occasions, fat jokes are one of the only forms of open discrimination that is still, unfortunately, acceptable. All you have to do is watch an episode of Friends and cringe as the gang mocks Monica for her overweight past. And while that was already a few years ago, jokes like this clearly still goes on in a very public way.

And you know what? It’s not ok. It’s not ok to mock someone because of their size. It’s not ok to judge someone based on their body and openly joke about their attractiveness. It’s sad that we even have to say this, but clearly, we do!!

And if you don’t believe us, just read some of the tweets below in horror.

Tags:
Lena Finkel
Lena Finkel
View More Posts
Lena Finkel is the Editor and Founder of Femestella and The Feminist Health Source. Prior to starting Femestella, she worked at People, InStyle, Tiger Beat, and Sesame Workshop (aka Sesame Street). She loves all things Real Housewives and The Challenge. When she's not busy binge-watching TV, you can find her taking an absurd amount of photos of her tuxedo cat Tom.