Fans undoubtedly had a lot of opinions and feelings about 13 Reasons Why Season 3, which was released on Netflix in August. But among the debate about the show’s themes and theories as to who killed Bryce Walker, some viewers took their opinions of the characters too far — causing one actor in particular to seemingly quit social media altogether.

13 Reasons Why Season 3 introduced viewers to Ani Achola, who is the new girl at Liberty High School, and serves as the omniscient narrator for the third installment of the series. Portrayed by Grace Saif, Ani is involved with Bryce prior to his death, and becomes entrenched in the mystery surrounding his murder.

Fans had mixed reactions to Ani’s role in the story, with many questioning why her character suddenly knew everything about everyone at Liberty, having never appeared on screen until this year. However, some viewers began bullying Grace on social media with their opinions about Ani, accusing her of “ruining” the show, and sending her hateful messages. (Teen Vogue is not linking to the tweets in question in order not to give bullies a bigger platform.)

Soon after the release of Season 3, it appeared as though Grace made her Twitter account private, and erased all of her images from Instagram. Timothy Granaderos Jr., who plays Monty de la Cruz, later spoke out on social media to urge fans to be nicer. “Whether or not you support, like, or love, a character in our fictional tv show — please remember that there is a talented and beautiful actor/actress bringing those scripted words to life,” he wrote on Instagram. “One of the underlining themes in our show is to take care of each other. I’ve seen some pretty nasty things being said online, concerning the introduction of a new character. Y’all are passionate & we love you for that, but PLEASE PLEASE try to be kind and respect the work of the talented actress/actor behind the character.”

Anne Winters, who portrays Chloe Rice, told People that the backlash towards Grace was “unwarranted,” adding: “Ani is amazing, Grace who plays Ani is like the sweetest girl ever. I really loved her character this season.”

Fortunately, plenty of fans have since voiced their support of Grace, seemingly drowning out the bullying and hate. “I wasn’t really rocking w Ani in #13ReasonsWhy but I find it cruel how y’all bullied this woman until she deleted all her accounts!” one fan wrote, adding: “It’s just a show guys. Hell yeah her character was annoying but y’all forget that this sh*t isn’t real. @gracesaif, I hope you’re doing fine.” Others echoed Timothy’s point, reminding their friends and followers that 13 Reasons Why aims to highlight the ramifications of bullying. “@gracesaif does NOT deserve hate,” one fan concluded. “She played a character.”

Sadly, this is not the first time something like this has happened. We’ve seen stars quit social media as a result of fan bullying, and in every fandom, it seems as though there are those who have trouble distinguishing fiction from reality, unfairly lashing out at creative teams because they take issue with a storyline or character portrayal. While it’s understandable to have strong opinions about TV shows and movies, it’s never OK to turn those opinions into hate towards the people behind those stories. At the end of the day, actors (or producers or writers or directors) are people too — and bullying can affect anyone, famous or not.

Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: 13 Reasons Why Season 3 Recapped and the Questions We Have for Season 4