Haley Lu Richardson has responded to criticism of her character in The White Lotus.

During a recent edition of the Just for Variety podcast, The White Lotus star discussed portraying Jennifer Coolidge’s onscreen assistant Portia on the show and the criticism she received over her character’s decisions and fashion sense.

“I just hadn’t been in that situation before, so I did get sad,” Haley, 28, said of seeing criticism for Portia online. “There was probably the first couple of episodes where I was seeing some things and reactions to things with Portia and me that I was taking personally or I wasn’t fully sure how to take it or how to process it.”

While noting how flattering it was to see fans discussing the series in detail, Haley added, “The one thing that I thought was actually kind of unfair and warped was the people who were saying that she was awful or she was the real villain of the season…

“There’s no way that you can look at that young woman and be like, ‘She is the most awful one on this show.’ People who think that should go to therapy.”

– Cover Media