Florence Pugh defends Bella Thorne from ‘being unnecessarily dragged’ by Instagram trolls

Florence Pugh has defended Bella Thorne after the Disney Channel star was targeted by critics over an Instagram comment.

The incident occured on Pugh’s Instagram page, where she shared a video of the ravioli she’d made earlier this week along with the caption: “Mild chilli tomato sauced ravioli with a white wine, butter and herb poached lobster filling. NAUGHTY.”

The clip prompted hundreds of responses from Pugh’s fans praising her cooking skills, with Thorne also leaving a comment of appreciation.

“Omg please come over and make food,” the Infamous star wrote alongside two fire emojis.

Despite the seemingly innocent nature of the comment, Thorne’s post was met with criticism from Pugh’s followers, who proceeded to direct negative responses at the 23-year-old.

The negativity elicited a response from the Little Women star, who took to her comments section to defend Thorne and call out those bullying the actress.

“To all those negatively trashing Bella, I do not appreciate it or like seeing people being unnecessarily dragged on my page," Pugh wrote. "My page has NEVER been about that and I don't like seeing it.

“I always appreciate your love but not at the cost of bullying someone else.”

The 25-year-old concluded the message: “Enjoy the ravioli!”

In response to Pugh’s post, which has been liked more than 1,200 times, many of her followers applauded her for standing up for Thorne.

“Well said,” one person commented, while another wrote: “Thank goodness there are people like you in this world standing up against bullying.”

This is not the first time Pugh has taken the time to respond to negativity on her Instagram, where she has more than 2m followers. In April, the Midsommar star, who is dating actor Zach Braff, addressed criticism from online trolls about their age gap in an Instagram video, in which she said: “I will not allow that behaviour on my page, I’m not about that.

“It makes me upset, it makes me sad that during this time when we really all need to be together, we need to be supporting one another,” she continued, adding: “I do not need you tell me who I should and should not love, and I would never in my life ever tell anyone who they can and cannot love.”