Adolescence writer Jack Thorne has shut down ‘absurd’ claims that the hit Netflix drama was adapted from real-life crimes after misinformation spread online.
Earlier this week, X account @stillgray made completely false allegations that the one-shot show was ‘based on real life cases such as the Southport murderer’ and claimed the team had ‘swapped the actual killer from a Black man/migrant to a white boy’ as part of ‘anti-white propaganda.’
The damaging and inaccurate statement was widely condemned, but Elon Musk was blasted for amplifying the misinformation when he responded with: ‘Wow.’
Now, Thorne, who co-wrote Adolescence with Stephen Graham, has reacted to the false claims being circulated online, saying: ‘They’re saying that we race swapped it, because we were basically here and then ended up there, and everything else, and nothing is further from the truth.
‘I have told a lot of real-life stories in my time. I know the harm that can come when you take elements of a real-life story, and you put it on screen, and the people aren’t expecting it. There is no part of this that’s based on a true story, not one single part.’
Thorne, 46, also pointed out that children from all ethnic backgrounds commit crimes and that it was ‘absurd and not true’ to claim that they are only committed by Black boys.
He continued on The News Agents podcast: ‘We’re not making a point about race with this. We are making a point about masculinity. We’re trying to get inside a problem. We’re...
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