Some Percy Jackson fans are acting quite impertinent.
Walker Scobell, star of the Disney+ fantasy series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, says he’s going to skip his high school prom due to potential dates getting death threats from fans.
The 17-year-old actor took to Instagram to ask his online admirers to stop harassing his real-life classmates.
“Just to let everyone know, I will not be attending prom,” Scobell wrote. “Please stop sending death threats to EVERY teenage girl who could remotely be associated with me based on their proximity to where I live. It’s not fair to them or to their families. Maybe also just stop sending death threats in general. That’s just not cool. Kinda weird I have to say this.”
Indeed.
Scobell’s co-star, Aryan Simhadri, previously told Entertainment Weekly about an uncomfortable encounter with a group of “40 drunk girls” who recognized the actor. “I was feeling pretty uncomfortable, so I put my hands in my back pockets,” Simhadri said. “And then she reached around and put her hand inside of my back pocket, with my hand already in there. There’s not enough room in the back pocket of jeans for more than one hand. She lingered there a little longer than I would have liked. Not that I would have liked it at all.”
While Scobell previously discussed going back to school in the wake of the show’s success, telling People magazine, “When Season 1 was coming out, I was on the press tour, and then I came back, and I think going back to school after the press tour was a little bit weird. Because I feel like I know everybody so well, and I’ve known them for such a long time that it’s … weirder to act like it’s weird. I feel like you just accept it right away, and everyone has, which has been super nice for me.”
Scobell previously starred in Netflix’s 2022 sci-fi movie The Adam Project alongside Ryan Reynolds.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is based on Rick Riordan’s book series, which kicked off with The Lightning Thief, about a teenage boy who discovers he’s a demigod and has to navigate a modern world filled with mythological monsters. Disney+ has aired two seasons of the show, with a third season set for release later this year.
