Stephanie Tyler Jones, who provided her likeness for the Mary Jane character in Insomniac Games' Spider-Man series of video games, has called out fans who recently “crossed boundaries”.
Taking to Instagram, Jones said one fan in particular had left multiple voicemails "wanting to speak with me and requesting I call back" at her place of work. This behaviour, Jones said, was "unacceptable" and “considered stalking”, with the voicemails leaving her feeling “unsafe” and “uncomfortable”.
Jones said she is no longer actively acting or modeling after a career change to work in skincare, and called on fans to respect that. “My skincare page is not for Spider-Man or MJ fans,” Jones said.
“I kindly ask for boundaries not to be crossed,” Jones added. “Messages will not be answered, I will block you if you make me feel uncomfortable and you can unfollow me if this disappoints you.”
Harassment remains a significant problem for video game developers. The Game Developers Conference’s annual State of the Game Industry survey found 91% of developers believe player harassment is a problem for the industry. According to the research, women are more likely to experience abuse from players than men, as are members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
