Juliet Stevenson: What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you?

The question

What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I get a lot of abuse online because of my opposition to the assault on Gaza. The abuse is horrific, but I’ve learned to ignore it. The integrity of how you live your life is more important than what strangers think.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 May 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Jason Manford English comedian and singer

Someone once said online that they hated me so much they wanted to stab me with a spoon. A knife’s easy, but a spoon – that takes real hatred.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 July 2023 source ↗

Rose Ayling-Ellis British actress

“I’ll tell you later.” They never do.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 August 2024 source ↗

Adam Lambert American singer

“You’re never going to make it.” It was some guy I was dating. I had the last laugh.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 February 2023 source ↗

Ciarán Hinds

As a young actor, again at the Citizens theatre, I was making an exit and a theatregoer leaned over the balcony and said, “You’re terrible!”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 July 2025 source ↗