‘I’m a Hollywood actor and think social media has normalised people being abhorrent online’
Adam Pearson has spoken exclusively to Metro after he was announced as the host for the 2025 Scope Awards.
Actor Adam Pearson has given five words of advice to anyone facing abuse online after he was trolled over his disability at the BAFTA’s.
The Croydon-born actor who starred in ‘A Different Man’ last year said social media had opened the floodgates for people to receive ‘abhorrent abuse’ and had a powerful message for anyone who hides behind a screen.
Adam, 40, who was today announced as the host for the Scope Awards 2025, spoke exclusively to Metro and shared his thoughts on attitudes towards disability.
Adam was previously praised for his response after a cruel troll ahead of the BAFTAs said online she would find him ‘so scary’.
It was after a seating plan posted online showed he would be sitting next to singer Camila Cabello.
Adam was born with the rare genetic condition known as neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) which causes tumours to grow across a person’s nerves.
Speaking to Metro he said: ‘I think social media has normalized everyone being really comfortable just being absolutely abhorrent online. And I think it has to stop.
‘The only way to stop it is for people like me to finally call it out, like it’s a case of, how do I word this, where I’m not stooping to that level.
The Croydon born actor has called on the government to spend more time thinking about the lives of disabled people who want to live, rather than those in support of the assisted dying bill (Picture: Robbie Wilson / Telescope Agency)‘I’m not getting in the sand pit, but I’m also putting a spotlight on their bad behavior and putting an end to it.’
And his message to those who faced abuse online was equally as strong.
Adam told Metro: ‘I’d say, know, your value, know your worth, and know how you want to be treated, and then don’t compromise on that.
‘And sometimes, I’ve had to do it, sometimes you’ve got to take a break from social media for a while.
He said ‘social media isn’t the be all and end all’ and is the latest in a line of actors who have advocated breaks from Instagram and X, after Stephen Fry last month said he wants to ‘destroy’ it because it has ‘polluted’ our culture. While back in 2021, James Bond star Daniel Craig said he wouldn’t be ‘ever going on social media in his life’.
Adam Pearson shared his response to trolling on social media (Picture: @Adam_Pearson)Adam added: ‘I think living in the real world with real people who genuinely care and respect you is infinitely better than living in a digital world where you want to place your self worth on the likes and reposts of strangers.
‘I despise social media, and I only use it because I have to.’
It wasn’t just strong opinions on social media that Adam shared in his interview with Metro, and he called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to spend more time acting on improving the lives of disabled people rather than ‘spending hours talking about helping them die.’
Adam said he feels like the rhetoric around the economics of disability is ‘scary’ and highlighted the Disability Price Tag (Picture: Robbie Wilson / Telescope Agency)The comments come after last week, there were claims the safety efforts around the assisted dying bill were being watered down.
Plans were brought forward by Kim Leadbeater to remove the need for a High Court judge to sign off applications.
Adam said despite attitudes towards disability improving, he thinks there is a long way to go.
‘I despise social media, and I only use it because I have to.’
QuoteQuoteHe told Metro: ‘I find it deeply upsetting that we’ve got a government that’s willing to sit around for hours on end and talk about how to help disabled people die, but very little time about how to help them live.’
The campaigner who made his acting debut alongside Scarlett Johansson in 2013 said he finds the rhetoric around the economics of disability ‘scary.’
The actor from Croydon will be the host for the 2025 Scope Awards (Picture: Robbie Wilson / Telescope Agency)Last year figures from Scope as part of its Disability Price Tag campaign revealed it costs over £1,000 a month more for a disabled family to live.
He told Metro: ‘I think there is a picture painted by some that people on disability benefits are just faking it or they don’t need it.
‘Even though Pip (benefit) fraud is less than 1% of all kinds of fraud on the books known to the government, I often think it’s used as a scapegoat.
‘It’s like they say at the end of the film, Wicked, if you want to galvanize a group of people then give them a common enemy.
‘And I think disability, as well as immigration, are what people in the new government are now using to bring people together.’
Adam and Camila Cabello had an iconic union at the Baftas after he had been trolled about sitting next to her online (Picture: @Adam_Pearson/X/Mike Kemp)The actor not only said he had concerns about the priorities of the UK government, but feared changes in the USA earlier this year could contribute to more negative attitudes towards disability.
In January, Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders overturning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes in the federal government, in a backlash against measures to help underrepresented groups.
Huge employers, including Google, said they were reviewing some diversity initiatives and scrapping a goal to hire more employees from historically underrepresented groups.
Adam appeared alongside Sebastian Stan in ‘A Different Man’ that received critical acclaim(Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Adam said: ‘Bearing in mind that we’re talking about disability is the largest minority group numerically in the country, with one in five people having a disability, I think we still need to be having these conversations and helping people separate the idea of inability from disability because they aren’t the same thing.
‘With all the rhetoric around D, E and I [diversity, equity, and inclusion] coming from America now, I’m worried that things might start to move backwards a little bit.
‘I think a lot of the people who do moan about D, E and I, don’t actually know what it is or what it means, and I just think some of it is just angry, irrelevant rhetoric that needs to be given the exact credibility it deserves, that being zero.’
Adam will host the 2025 Scope Awards at the Kia Oval in May. All nominations have now been announced and you view the full shortlist on the Scope website.
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