‘Summer I Turned Pretty’ cast bullying forces Prime Video to speak out



The summer things got ugly. 

Prime Video has reprimanded fans of the teen love triangle romance, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” which is currently in its third and final season. 

On Wednesday, the show’s official TikTok account posted a video graphic that read, “The Summer We Started Acting Normal Online.”

It was accompanied by the caption, “The show isn’t real but the people playing the characters are.” 

The TikTok graphic from “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” thesummeriturnedpretty/TikTok
Belly (Lola Tung) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) in “The Summer I Turned Pretty” Season 3. Erika Doss/Prime

The statement came amid series star Gavin Casalegno recently telling The New York Times that he is  “one of the internet’s most hated boyfriends.”

“I don’t think there’s a single human being in the world who can carry the emotional negativity to the degree that stuff like this happens,” Casalegno told the outlet. “And I think that’s why Amazon did a good job of stepping in and being like, ‘Hey, no bullying.’ Though not really going so well.”

The show first premiered in 2022, as an adaptation of a book series by Jenny Han (who also wrote the book that was the basis for the Netflix rom-com hit, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”). 

Conrad (Christopher Briney) in “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Erika Doss/Prime
Belly (Lola Tung) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) in “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Erika Doss/Prime

The plot follows the love triangle between Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung) and brothers Jeremiah (Casalegno) and Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney) during their summers in the fictional seaside town of Cousins Beach.

Some viewers have turned on Jeremiah because the show had a plot line where he cheated on Belly. 

One fan replied to the most recent TikTok, “that depends on tomorrow’s episode” referring to what will happen in the next episode. 

Another fan commented, “You know it’s bad when they have to tell people to act right. LIKE ITS A SHOW it’s not that serious.”

Sean Kaufman, Gavin Casalegno, Lola Tung, Christopher Briney and Rain Spencer attend “The Summer I Turned Pretty” Season 3 New York Launch Event at Refinery Rooftop in NYC on July 16, 2025. WireImage
Steven (Sean Kaufman), Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), Conrad (Christopher Briney) in “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Erika Doss/Prime

This isn’t the first time the show has spoken out imploring fans to be nice online. 

Amazon issued a statement on July 14 asking viewers to stop bullying the actor.

“Cousins is our safe place. Everything good, everything magical,” the PSA read. “Let’s keep the conversation kind this summer.”

Many critics still took to social media to slam Casalegno for Jeremiah’s actions. 

“The second-hand embarrassment I felt watching Belly announce her engagement and show off the aluminum foil ring,” one fan tweeted after Jeremiah proposed to Belly at the end of the new season’s second episode.

“I hate Jeremiah for real,” another person wrote on TikTok.

Gavin Casalegno, Lola Tung and Christopher Briney at “The Summer I Turned Pretty” Season 3 Launch Event at Refinery Rooftop in NYC on July 16, 2025. WireImage

During a July interview with The Post, former “The Vampire Diaries” showrunner Julie Plec opened up about the pressure of presiding over a show that has a love triangle. 

She recalled that at the height of “The Vampire Diaries” popularity, some of the “volume of response” of the fandom feedback on social media could get, “legitimately scary.”

Tung has also spoken out about the online hate Casalegno has received.

“I’m so grateful that they care so much, but people get a little scary about it,” Tung, 22, told Teen Vogue in an interview published July 10. “Please don’t threaten to kill someone if something doesn’t go your way – I promise you, it’s not that serious.”

Belly (Lola Tung) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) in “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Erika Doss/Prime
Lola Tung, Gavin Casalegno, Christopher Briney, Rain Spencer, Sean Kaufman in “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” ©Amazon/Courtesy Everett Collection

Han, who is the co-showrunner of “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” also addressed backlash against Casalegno in a July interview with Elle

“I’m protective over the cast, and I just like to remind people that everyone sees what you’re saying online, and there are real people who are playing these characters,” she said at the time. “I don’t think it’s easy to be in the public eye and have people dissecting everything about you. I don’t think that’s healthy for anybody.”

Han said that the show’s cast “aren’t super online” and that, “I want to do what I can to protect them, but also I really love the audience as well.”





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