Dan Aykroyd Defends Ghostbusters All-Female Movie With Melissa McCarthy

Dan Aykroyd, one of many authentic Ghostbusters, is defending 2016’s all-female reboot of Ghostbusters, which was met with racist and sexist criticism from on-line trolls following its debut.

The actor and screenwriter, who starred as Dr. Ray Stantz within the 1984 film in addition to penned the script, opened up in a latest interview with Individuals about his appreciation for the complete franchise, together with the Paul Feig-directed installment starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.

“I favored the film Paul Feig made with these spectacular girls,” Aykroyd mentioned. “I used to be mad at them on the time as a result of I used to be imagined to be a producer on there and I didn’t do my job and I didn’t argue about prices. And it value maybe greater than it ought to, they usually all do. All these motion pictures do.”

“However boy, I favored that movie,” the Saturday Evening Dwell alum continued. “I assumed that the villain on the finish was nice. I cherished a lot of it. And naturally, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, you’re by no means going to do higher than that. So I am going on the report as saying I’m so proud to have been in a position to license that film and have a hand and have an element in it, and I’m totally supportive of it, and I don’t besmirch it in any respect. I believe it really works actually nice amongst all those which have been made.”

The forged of the 2016 reboot have beforehand spoken out concerning the hateful feedback they obtained, together with McCarthy and Jones. The latter recalled the “on-line abuse” in her memoir, Leslie F*cking Jones, final yr, saying she “bought taken by way of the ringer.”

“Why are individuals being so evil to one another? How are you going to sit and kind ‘I wish to kill you.’ Who does that?” Jones added in her memoir. “Unhappy keyboard warriors dwelling of their mom’s basements hated the truth that this hallowed work of excellent artwork now featured — gasp! horror! — girls within the lead roles. Worst of all, in fact, was that one of many lead characters was a Black girl. For some males this was the ultimate straw.”

On the time, the Coming 2 America star additionally slammed Jason Reitman, the director of 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, for saying he was “not making the Juno of Ghostbusters motion pictures” and was “making an attempt to return to authentic method and hand the film again to the followers.”

Although Reitman later clarified that his feedback “got here out mistaken,” Jones wrote in her memoir that “the injury was performed.”