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Yashar Ali defended by celebs after Twitter ‘Karen’ trolls journo as ‘whiny’ for mental health tweet

Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette and actress Brittani Warrick were among the many to slam the 'Karen' for trolling Ali

A Twitter user who tried to shut down an American journalist sharing about feeling low on the platform was showered with intense backlash from the general public and celebrities alike. The journalist, Yashar Ali, 41, is a Chicago-born and raised writer of Iranian descent who is an avid sharer of positive animal and wildlife news on Twitter. But another side of his Twitter presence also sees him talking openly about the not-so-positive emotions amidst his daily life, which has drawn him an incredible following of almost 800K followers on the social media portal.

Ali, who has worked with HuffPost, NBC, and New York magazine, has been quite popular for his Twitter presence and was named in Time magazine's list of 25 most influential people in 2019. But among those replying to Ali's tweets are also Twitter trolls, with one of them claiming recently the writer doesn't need to "whine" about having negative thoughts "nightly." 

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It started with Ali's June 5 tweet where he shared he went to bed "hoping I wouldn't wake up." Ali's full tweet read: "Yesterday there were some moments where I felt better, like I was headed in the right direction...but the last half of the day/night were not good. I went to bed for the 10th night in a row hoping I wouldn't wake up. Thank you for your support and love, I'm so grateful for it." Around 11,000 people resonated with support and solidarity for Ali under that first tweet, and the writer soon followed it up with another tweet that read: "I just want to note that I know I'm incredibly privileged to have all this support...most people can't tweet and hear from thousands of people. And I'm well aware that most people can't share this stuff without worrying they'll lose their job. I promise to pay it forward."

A day later, Ali again tweeted: "Today was the second day where I had some good moments...a relief. But I am still going to bed with the hope I don’t wake up in the morning. It’s the 11th night in a row." To this, a user called 'Cindi' whose username reads @gooutdoorsnow replied: "You DO know that tons of people go to bed each and every night feeling this way, but don't have the following to whine about it nightly? None of us feel the daily need for affirmation, ffs. This is so boring at this point, find some help or shut up."

Ali did not retaliate harshly to this hate. Instead, he remained calm and acknowledged the Twitter following he has and called himself "lucky". Without retweeting or responding to the tweet, Ali shared a screenshot of Cindi's alleged tweet and wrote in the caption: "Hi Cindi, I’m lucky to have help. I’ve been sharing these thoughts because they help me and others keep telling me it’s helping them." This seemed to touch Ali's Twitter followers further as they hopped into the reply section of the tweet and wrote words of support and encouragement. 

Academy Award-winning actor Patricia Arquette also chimed in with her words of support for Ali and some suggestions for 'Cindi'. "Lord they know not what they do. A lot of people are struggling right now. You do you. If she doesn’t like it she can mute it or unfollow. Your job isn’t to entertain people on here." Actress Brittani Warrick also stood up for all, tweeting, "what a trash response to someone hurting. i can’t believe people feel good about saying things like this to strangers. get better soon, yashar!" with a heart emoji.

Arquette wasn't the only one that had words for Cindi. "'Cindi' needs to get in touch with her empathy gene. What a hateful thing to say to someone struggling. Cindi=Karen indeed. Wishing you well, kind sir….vent all you need..however you need. We are here for you, and you may be giving someone else the power to speak out as well." Others agreed with the actor further, tweeting "If she didn't like your current content she could have gracefully bowed out instead of going at you. What a crap human. Luck and love."

Some also called out the attitude the troll brought with her tweet, saying, "This attitude right here is what's wrong with this country and our approach to mental health. I have no doubt that this woman has never suffered from major depression. The mindset behind her tweet is appalling."