Francesca Scorsese hits back at trolls over cruel appearance comments after Mr. & Mrs. Smith news

• Francesca Scorsese, 26, posted a TikTok video on Saturday addressing online trolls
• The abuse followed her announcement of a role in Mr. & Mrs. Smith season two
• Trolls made cruel appearance-based comments, calling her "fat," "ugly," and "Miss Piggy"
  

Martin Scorsese's youngest daughter, Francesca Scorsese, has publicly confronted the online trolls who bombarded her with cruel comments about her appearance after she shared news of her latest acting role.

The TikTok video that sparked the response

Francesca, 26, posted a video on TikTok on Saturday explaining that after she shared news of her casting in season two of Prime Video's Mr. & Mrs. Smith, she was met with a torrent of hateful comments unlike anything she had previously encountered.

"It has some of the worst comments I have ever seen about me,"

she said, acknowledging that whilst she was accustomed to being criticised for being a "nepo baby," the scale and nature of the abuse this time was something new entirely.

Francesca's response to the "nepo baby" criticism

Rather than dismissing the nepotism accusations outright, Francesca was candid about the advantages her family name affords her: "I understand. I know I have doors opened for me. Like, I'm still trying to do the work, I'm still going hard and being passionate and creating and doing the work."

She then turned her attention squarely to those who had targeted her with appearance-based abuse: "But I think if you go on people's videos and you seek out negativity, you are a very, very sad person."

Francesca went on to repeat some of the specific comments levelled at her, including people calling her "fat" and "ugly," comparing her to a "fridge," and using the term "Miss Piggy."

She addressed the comments directly: "I get it — I'm not the most beautiful girl in the world. I'm not the skinniest girl in the whole world. I'm chubby, I know it. But like, what the f–k does it matter?"

The wider impact of online hate

Francesca revealed she had already deleted her account on X due to the volume of negativity she faced on the platform, and expressed concern that TikTok was beginning to feel the same.

She urged her audience to consider the real-world consequences of hateful words: "There's so many trolls and so many bots and people that just go on to just try to ruin somebody's day or make somebody feel like s–t.

"This is the kind of thing that causes people to lose their lives, like, your words have power behind them."

She also addressed the particular burden of growing up in the shadow of one of cinema's most celebrated figures: "And I know I have a huge, you know, figure, my father to live up to, and like, that always overshadows me as a person. But come on, guys. I just want TikTok to be a better place like I feel like it used to be."

Martin Scorsese on welcoming Francesca later in life

Scorsese, 83, previously spoke about welcoming Francesca later in life during an appearance on SiriusXM's This Life of Mine with James Corden in February 2024.

The legendary director shares Francesca with his wife, Helen Morris. He also has two older daughters — Cathy, 60, and Domenica, 49 — from previous marriages to Laraine Marie Brennan and Julia Cameron respectively.

Recalling the experience of becoming a father again at 56, Scorsese said: "It was extraordinary and by that point, I was 56 and it was a different perspective on life."

"My other daughters, we were younger, we were stronger, you know? This was like some special blessing of some kind. It suddenly changed all the values, what I thought was important in life."

The Mr. & Mrs. Smith role

The precise nature of Francesca's role in season two of Mr. & Mrs. Smith has not yet been revealed, though Deadline reported that she is expected to be part of another Mr. and Mrs. Smith pairing in the new series.