A Beginner's Guide To The People Bret Easton Ellis Harasses On Twitter

On Thursday, “American Psycho” author Bret Easton Ellis started a Twitter war with “Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow over her latest movie “Zero Dark Thirty.” Ellis complained that Bigelow is “overrated” because “she’s a very hot woman” and otherwise her films would go unnoticed.

“Kathryn Bigelow would be considered a mildly interesting filmmaker if she was a man but since she's a very hot woman she's really overrated,” Ellis wrote before tearing into the director some more.

Of course, it should be no surprise to anyone that Ellis’ Twitter feed is, to put it bluntly, completely insane. Ellis regularly spends time harassing fellow writers, directors, actors, and basically anyone else on his page. And there was that one time he asked his fans for cocaine.

So now, enjoy a brief guide to the people Bret Easton Ellis has harassed over Twitter.

David Foster Wallace

This is probably Ellis’ best-known feud of all. Though he’s openly harbored resentment against David Foster Wallace for decades, when D.T. Max published his biography of Wallace, “Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story,” to rave reviews, Ellis took to Twitter to tear down the “Infinite Jest” author.

“Anyone who finds David Foster Wallace a literary genius has got to be included in the Literary Doucebag-Fools [sic] Pantheon,” Ellis tweeted. Of course, he didn’t end there, churning out no less than seven more tweets rallying against Wallace and anyone who has ever, at one point, enjoyed his writing.

For many, Ellis’ crusade against Wallace seems almost too cruel, as Wallace wasn't around to defend himself. He ultimately succumbed to a lifelong struggle with clinical depression and hanged himself in 2008. 

Gerard Howard, who edited early works by both Wallace and Ellis, says this enmity has been around for decades. In a piece for Salon, Howard writes that the two authors pioneered wildly divergent literary styles and that “at the moment, the Wallace style is dominant and that is what drives Bret Ellis nuts.” So maybe we can chalk this one up to twisted jealousy.

Lindsay Lohan

Lohan is working with Ellis on the upcoming film “The Canyons,” and while the “Less Than Zero” author has doled out plenty of praise for Lohan over Twitter, he’s also issued some pretty insane threats as well.

"Patrick Bateman [the serial killer protagonist of 'American Psycho'] has just headed over to Lindsay Lohan's hotel to confront her as to why she missed her f**king ADR on 'The Canyons' today..." Ellis tweeted after the notoriously unreliable actress missed a shoot.

Ellis later described Lohan’s performance in “The Canyons” as “a possible 9 maybe 10,” so it looks like his veiled homicidal threats have subsided.

The Production Team of “Fifty Shades of Grey”

Ellis was passed over to write the script for the upcoming “Fifty Shades of Grey” adaptation, and he clearly nursing a lot of rage about this one. He spent a lot of time criticizing the possible choice of Matt Bomer to play Christian Grey because of his sexuality. Ellis later came around and declared that Grey simply had to be portrayed by a gay man.

When Kelly Marcel was named screenwriter for the project, Ellis posted, “Kelly Marcel?!? KELLY MARCEL?!? Kelly Marcel is WRITING the script for 'Fifty Shades of Grey'?!? THIS is the movie they want to make? ARGH."  

It’s possible that this is a jealousy issue as well, since “The Canyons” has received largely negative pre-press, while “Fifty Shades of Grey” is guaranteed to make gobs of money.

Any Member of the Millennial Generation

Ellis routinely refers to Millennials as “Generation Wuss” on Twitter and elsewhere. At various times, he has tweeted “Hey GENERATION WUSS: Grow a dick,” “To all you Generation Wuss snowflakes out there: GROW SOME BALLS,” and “Get a f**king life.”

Ellis also attempted to make #GenerationWuss a trending topic, but that effort failed pretty spectacularly.

All Women, Everywhere

“And the unfolding case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn just reinforces my theory that men are no picnic but women are f**king CRAZY,” Ellis wrote. He later tweeted, “I've met many men who are transparent but I've probably never known a woman who is totally transparent. Not good or bad. It is what it is...”

Ellis claims he swore off women as sexual partners years ago, so at least he’s consistent on this one.