Drake Bell Under Fire for Saying He’ll Still Call Jenner ‘Bruce’

Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell was at the center of massive social media backlash Monday after issuing what some claim was a “transphobic” tweet about Bruce Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover where he debuted as “Caitlyn.”

Jenner appeared as a woman on the cover of the magazine’s June issue, and celebrities and others, including family members Kim and Khloe Kardashian, have shown their support on Twitter.

But Bell drew the ire of Twitter-land when he tweeted, and then quickly deleted: “Sorry… still calling you Bruce.”

 

According to the New York Post, as the backlash quickly spread, Bell attempted to defuse the situation, tweeting: “Good thing social media has no effect on real life.”

Shortly after that tweet, the Drake and Josh star followed up with another: “I’m not dissing him! I just don’t want to forget his legacy! He is the greatest athlete of all time! Chill out!”

And fifteen minutes later: “Calm down children.”

Bell quickly scrubbed all tweets related to Jenner from his feed. But that did not stop the massive backlash and angry replies from pouring in:

https://twitter.com/singniaz/status/605593048177741825

https://twitter.com/huhmatt/status/605550428265324544

https://twitter.com/savagearianna/status/605626338066722816

Still, some came to Bell’s defense:

https://twitter.com/Rollinspaigefan/status/605580734775087104

Jenner joined Twitter Monday, where she quickly garnered 1 million followers in just four hours, breaking a record previously held by President Obama.