Lily Allen gives up Twitter account after she is taunted over stillbirth of her son
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Version 0 of 1. Singer Lily Allen has suffered a wave of vitriol from trolls about the stillbirth of her child, prompting her to announce she will take a break from Twiiter. In a candid tweet, the celebrity said she had suffered post-traumatic stress following the death of her son in 2010. She was met with dozens of abusive messages, with users blaming the singer for the death, which she said happened after the umbilical cord became wrapped around her child's neck. She was targeted while trying to highlight prejudice against immigrants and Muslims. In a series of tweets, the celebrity replaced the words "immigrants" and "Muslims", with "pensioners" in an attempt to highlight the absurdity of anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiment. She remarked: "Can't even get an appt at the doctors because pensioners just skip the queue, and claim all benefits. It has to stop." After some Twitter users suggested she had mental health issues, she tweeted: "I DO have mental health issues. Bi-polar, post natal depression, and PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], does that make my opinion void." She later explained she suffered symptoms of post-traumatic stress after her son died during a premature birth in 2010. The 31-year-old received a torrent of abuse by Twitter users in return. One person wrote: "If you didn't pump your body full of drugs you wouldn't have miscarried". In reply, Ms Allen said in a tweet: "I didn't miscarry. I went into early labour and by son died from his chord [sic] wrapped round his neck." Ms Allen later announced she would take a break from Twitter, saying: "My timeline is full of the most disgusting, sexist, misogynistic, racist s***. Really, new levels. I'm no masochist so I'll be back" Her account has since been taken over by someone who called himself "Dennis". Ms Allen received messages of support from various Twitter users on Twitter, including the Labour MP Jess Phillips and writer Caitlin Moran. The celebrity has previously faced an internet backlash after she apologised on behalf of England while visiting refugees in Calais. A recent survey by the Pew Research Centre estimated that our out of ten social media users had suffered harassment online. |