“Criminal Minds” star Paget Brewster has slammed ScreenRant TV critics who wrote negative articles about the long-running series.
“Hello, Critic Shielyn Scott,” Brewster began his now-deleted X post Saturday, directly addressing the article’s author, Shielyn Scott, although her name was misspelled. “You’re young. You don’t know that 350 people can lose their jobs because of a bad photo or a bad review.”
“Let’s sell vintage stuff. Let’s work at a shelter. Let’s do something better than what we’re doing now,” the 57-year-old actress added. “Because you’re the worst right now.”
Scott’s Saturday article, titled “Paramount+’s Criminal Minds Format Change Finally Backfired,” criticized some of the show’s “downgrades,” including the reduction in episode order.
“While logical in theory, the shortened season unfortunately works against one of Criminal Minds’ greatest strengths,” Scott wrote in part.
The main image in the article was the character of FBI agent Emily Prentice, which Brewster has played since 2006.
Brewster’s post sparked backlash from fans and other journalists, including Scott’s colleague Andy Bebacht, a senior writer and interviewer at ScreenRant.
“This is a terrible thing to do on your part, and it’s truly tragic to see you dismiss a young female journalist who you’re literally saying ‘sucks’ and shouldn’t be in the field she’s in,” Behbaft wrote in response to Brewster on X.
“I support my colleague. You owe her an apology,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rob Keyes, director of branding, PR and editorial at ScreenRant, pointed out in X that Scott’s article “isn’t even a review,” but rather “a feature on how the show could benefit from more episodes through storytelling.”
Following backlash, Brewster deleted the post the next day and apologized.
“Hello, I was mean to Sheerin Scott last night and I so regret it,” she wrote on Sunday. “I’m ashamed that I insulted someone who was doing their job.”
“I’m very sorry, Shirin,” Mr. Brewster continued. “And to those of you who follow me, I’m sorry you saw me behave like that. As it turns out, I was the worst last night.”
Scott acknowledged in his post that Brewster “also reached out to me personally to apologize.”
“Criminal Minds remains one of my all-time favorite shows, and I’m so excited to continue covering it in 2019 (and hopefully beyond!),” Scott added.
“Criminal Minds” has been airing since 2005.
After Season 15 ended on CBS in 2020, the show moved to Paramount+ in 2022 under the new title Criminal Minds: Evolution.
The series is currently on season 19 and was renewed for season 20 in March.
