Chase Stokes’ Response to Kelsea Ballerini's TikTok Trolls Serves as a Reminder of Why We Need More Kindness on Social Media

We've been here before.

Kelsea Ballerini has just dropped her brand new EP, Mount Pleasant, which finds the Tennessee native opening up about her mental health journey, relationship and more over the course of six enchanting - and deeply vulnerable - offerings.

Unfortunately, rather than letting the music do the talking and embracing this project as a stunning piece of art, some fans have instead been trying to use some of the lyrics to throw shade at Ballerini and her partner of the past few years, Chase Stokes.

The couple reportedly split shortly before the EP's arrival, with new sources emerging in recent weeks suggesting Ballerini and the Outer Banks star may be back together.

It's not clear whether they're dating once again or just friends, but that's not for us to speculate on. What we do feel the need to highlight is Stokes standing up for Ballerini, after Outer Banks fans were spamming her comments with photos of Stokes and his ex-girlfriend and fellow OBX star, Madelyn Cline. The bizarre, fan-led move was seemingly in response to Ballerini's song, ‘Emerald City’, which a number of stans have interpreted as being about Cline due to the “brown eyes” lyric.

Under a video of Ballerini lip-syncing to ‘People Pleaser’, Stokes has defended the ‘HEARTFIRST’ singer-songwriter, responding, “These comments are f***ing weird. Grow up.” It's not the first time he's had to put an end to this kind of behaviour from OBX fans, with Stokes having previously commented, “Enough.” when followers were flooding Ballerini's posts with similar images of him and Cline.

It brings us back to the sad reality of social media, which we've seen epitomised in recent months by fan responses to Ballerini and Stokes’ break-up, as well as Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman's split this Fall. Rather than being greeted by waves of empathy and respect for their privacy, what has ensued in both of these instances is a fervent, no-holds-barred investigation to try and uncover every possible detail - regardless of how intimate or personal they might be.

Thankfully, since Stokes’ response, the vast majority of fans in question appear to have removed their comments. But it shouldn't take this kind of high-profile call-out for social media users to realise that this level of trolling is simply unacceptable.

The trouble is that, because celebrities’ posts appear in our feed alongside posts from our friends and families, and because many public figures being relatively responsive to DMs and comments, it can make followers feel like they actually know them.

As a result, they feel like they have some kind of stake in their personal life, or that, once they've been a fan for a certain amount of time, they are invested in their romantic decisions. Just because you were really shipping Stokes and Cline when they were together, it doesn't give you the right to start a hateful campaign against his subsequent partner, Ballerini, for the sole purpose of upsetting her.

Hopefully, we can hold up this Stokes shutdown as a much-needed reminder that everyone on social media - celebrities, artists and public figures included - should be treated with respect and empathy. Which means that, particularly if someone is putting their heart on their sleeve, as Ballerini has throughout Mount Pleasant, and inspiringly expressing their feelings in the hope that they can provide comfort and solace for others, then we should be kind and gentle with our responses.

And this isn't something that can be blithely blamed on TikTok and Instagram. Social media platforms are fantastic, instrumental tools that can either foster positivity or negativity - so why don't we make a conscious effort to cultivate an online world of joy, kindness and love, rather than one that is riddled with hate, bitterness and vitriol. Unfortunately, at the moment, it often feels like the latter is the more accurate snapshot at present - and it's up to all of us to change that.

For more on Kelsea Ballerini, see below: