Marissa Bode, star of ‘Wicked,’ has received comments about Nessarose’s disability since the Jon M. Chu musical opened in theaters on November 22. The actress shared a 5-minute video on TikTok on Friday, expressing her thoughts on the disturbing and offensive comments circulating online about the character. Having a platform as a person with a disability, she wants to use it to draw attention to what she has read.
Bode stated that she is a non-serious person, who enjoys silly, ridiculous, and harmless jokes. So jokes about Nessa’s actions or personality are fine because she is fictional. However, jokes about her disability are offensive.
“Disability is not fictional,” Bode stated. “At the end of the day, me, Marissa, is the person that is still disabled and in a wheelchair. So, it is simply a low-hanging fruit that too many of you are comfortable taking.”
The actress explained that most of the comments came from non-disabled people and were about not being able to walk.
“This goes so far beyond me, Marissa, just needing to ignore comments on the internet,” she explained. “These comments do not exist in a vacuum. Aggressive comments of wanting to cause harm and push Nessa out of her wheelchair, or that she deserves her disability, are two very gross and harmful comments that real disabled people, including myself, have heard before.”
She acknowledged that she’s at a place in her life where she recognizes that jokes about disability “are made out of ignorance.”
“It would have affected younger me a lot more, and I’m worried that a younger version of myself is somewhere on the internet and is harmed by these comments,” she continued. “I do know and have seen, not in this specific instance, but similar comments be made on my disabled peers and disabled creators’ videos to the point where, again, it runs them off the internet. That’s not good. Please be kind.”
‘Wicked: Part Two’ is scheduled for release on November 21, 2025.
