Abigail Breslin and her family will soon mark a grim anniversary — in less than two months, it will have been one year since her father, Michael Breslin, died of COVID-19 at the age of 78.
So it’s easy to understand why, when someone on social media recently criticized the 25-year-old star for following pandemic protocols and wearing a mask in public, she responded with anger.
It all started Monday, when the actor and singer took to Instagram to share a photo of herself on a roller coaster in Las Vegas. Out of the five people featured in the photo, she was the only one wearing a mask on the ride.
Most of the more than 200 comments that followed the post praised her for wearing the mask while still going out and having a good time. But one person had a very different response.
“Who’s the pathetic loser wearing a mask?” the commenter wrote.
Breslin replied, “that pathetic loser would be me, someone who lost their dad due to someone not wearing a mask and giving him Covid. You can kindly go f--- off now.”
But that terse response didn't quiet the troll.
“I’m pretty sure wearing a mask isn’t going to save anyones life lol," the commenter continued. "Clearly I know more than her if she thinks someone who wasn’t wearing a mask killed her father when in reality he was weak.”
Breslin's fans and followers continued the conversation, defending her and her father, but Breslin asked them to do something else instead — report the person to Instagram.
"To say my dad died because he was 'weak' is something I will not tolerate," she added.
The back-and-forth then spilled over into another post, when Breslin shared a photo of herself alongside friends, one in which she wasn't wearing a mask. That spurred another commenter to write, "what a hypocrite."
“We took ours off for one photo," Breslin wrote in her defense. "Everyone present was vaccinated as well as being tested before hand. I was calling someone out for telling me my father was ‘weak’ because he passed away from Covid and said I was a ‘pathetic loser’ for wearing my mask on a public ride with strangers. I wear my mask always around others Except for friends I know are vaccinated and have been tested beforehand."
And that's where the conversation finally ended, at least for Breslin, who shared that exchange in a separate post and added a caption that noted she was taking a brief break from social media because she did "not need to further explain" herself.