The Aidan Gallagher Controversy, Explained

May 2024 · 6 minute read

Aidan Gallagher, the teen actor on Netflix's 'Umbrella Academy' has allegedly said some pretty nasty things online. Here's what the Aidan Gallagher controversy is all about, including his response.

Gina Vaynshteyn - Author

16-year-old Actor Aiden Gallagher, who you probably know from the Netflix series Umbrella Academy as Number Five, was allegedly caught bullying fans online, and his (many) shocking comments are being brought up on Twitter again. The screenshots that show Aiden's remarks against women and mental health surfaced on social media last year, and immediately provoked the Umbrella Academy star to vehemently defend himself. The internet is not so convinced though.

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Aidan Gallagher has said creppy messages to girls, tried to dox people, slander people because they can't afford a vegan/organic lifestyle, FAKED CANCER, I MEAN WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED TO CANCEL THIS BITCH #aidangallagherisoverparty

— marry me in eroda pls (@fantasycostc0) May 8, 2020

What's the controversy around Aidan Gallagher anyway?

Aidan was spotted making some really insensitive and questionable comments about topics like depression, having cancer (which he did not actually have) and what he views as consent. He also apparently went off of people who choose to eat meat. YouTuber Float Grandpa Float put all the damning evidence together in a video that explains, point by point, all the reasons why Aidan is a jerk. 

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One of the first pieces of "evidence" are posts from an account that is supposed to be Aidan's (Aidan denies this) that flippantly told users on the platform to stop talking about depression. He posted things like, "Honestly if you're depressed please don't come in here bringing the entire group down and running the risk of [sinking] you deeper. I don't want that. Mods if anyone brings up depression stop them," and "THIS IS NOT an online therapy group — I keep polling WHO is in here and it's a bunch of 13 year old girls — so this is NOT the place to come for help with depression."

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When asked about Aidan's attitude about mental health on his Instagram, one of his replies was about how he was a UN Ambassador and that teens were impersonating him to "discredit" him and "influence" his following "against him." 

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The YouTube video also claims that Aidan said things like "meat eaters are satan" and hate animals. This we actually can't find anywhere, but we did find a tweet from Aidan that he posted May 2019 saying that "Animal Agriculture creates more pollution than all forms of transportation COMBINED," and encouraging his followers to try out Meatless Mondays. 

By eating less meat. Animal Agriculture creates more pollution than all forms of transportation COMBINED. Can you commit to #meatlessmondays ? It’s a start! Have a bagel and banana for breakfast or vegan eggs! Have a vegan burger for lunch and pasta for dinner! It’s so easy! https://t.co/jaV38JD1U9

— Aidan Gallagher (@AidanRGallagher) May 29, 2019

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The video also shows Aidan defending himself against rumors that he flirted with his series premiere date Eden, inappropriately. (Again, we can't find the original accusations, so we're just sharing what the YouTuber caught from Instagram.) Aidan stated, "I did not make uncomfortable comments to Eden. I was dating her. She was my date to the Premiere...I took Eden as my date so I'm allowed to flirt with her on her live. She liked it. I'm actually allowed to flirt with anyone until they ask me to stop. That is how it works in my country and at 15." 

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Responding to an Instagram user, Aidan wrote, "Maybe you do not like boys flirting with girls for some reason? Maybe you do not like boys?" Yikes. That's not a good look. Even 15-year-olds need to be educated in the basics of consent. Aside from what happened with Eden, this is not an okay defense to have when being called out.

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Watch the full YouTube here:

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Aidan took to Twitter in April 2019 after he started getting backlash for his comments and responded to a tweet (which has since been deleted) saying, "It actually happens to every celebrity.  Anyone with a large following will have a percentage that resent them and take pleasure in starting fake rumors to see how far it will go to hurt you.  As you get more famous it gets worse.  Haters seek attention from the biggest celebs."

It actually happens to every celebrity. Anyone with a large following will have a percentage that resent them and take pleasure in starting fake rumors to see how far it will go to hurt you. As you get more famous it gets worse. Haters seek attention from the biggest celebs. https://t.co/jpi9rkdz0c

— Aidan Gallagher (@AidanRGallagher) April 11, 2019

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However, a Twitter user was quick to point out that people have evidence of Aidan's behavior and it would be best for everyone if he just came clean and apologized.

dude, i’m 16 so i’m telling you kid to kid, you gotta stop.there’s so many receipts and REAL screenshots of you saying this stuff. no one would be this upset if you just apologized & owned up to it instead of pretending it never happened. and things like this below makes it worse pic.twitter.com/MRjKELbsm2

— liv (@banditoparker) April 11, 2019

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In a very, very long Instagram post which has been deleted, Aidan stood up to his accusers and claimed that the things people are saying are untrue. "I'm hearing a lot of rumors lately about me saying things I never said. People are 'quoting' me with things I never said. Saying I'm against women or mental health — both things I have spent years standing up for. I don't know but every day the rumors get wilder. People have made fake screenshots of things and claim they are of me saying incredibly wild things."

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He continued, "Do not believe the fake screenshots being spread around of things i never posted and you didn't see me post yourself. When I first posted I was a feminist, I got a ton of hate saying boys cannot be feminists, which is crazy...But now the rumors are going around that I'm actually against women. That's just so crazy...There are hundreds of interviews you can find online of actual quotes in reputable news sources. Do not trust anything you did not see me post. Thank you!" You can read the whole response here.

But it seems like Aidan didn't learn his lesson. Possibly the most upsetting thing Aidan thing did (seemingly recently) was threaten to dox someone. Doxing means posting public information about a person's identity, and you can go to jail for it. It's unclear when Aidan threatened to do this, but the Twitter who shared the information posted the threat May 6.

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Is the #aidangallagherisoverparty warranted? Twitter seems to be fully onboard. 

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