‘Days of Our Lives’ Star Melissa Reeves Slammed by Fans, Co-Stars Over Anti-Black Lives Matter Posts

Days of Our Lives actress Melissa Reeves has come under fire from fans for allegedly liking Instagram posts by Candace Owens, the controversial conservative political commentator. The latter questioned where donations to Black Lives Matter were going. Several actors on the long-running NBC daytime soap opera spoke out against Reeves’ posts. Reeves, 53, has played Jennifer Horton on the series off and on since 1985.

On Tuesday, a Twitter user shared screenshots of Instagram posts Owens shared. In one post, Owens wrote that the Black Lives Matter website says it is not a charity. “It is a full-fledged corporation that does NOT have any locations,” Owens wrote. “Can anyone tell me then where the hundreds of millions BLM has raised goes? Can anyone tell me in what state BLM was incorporated & by who?”

In another post Reeves liked, Owens wrote, “I wonder if we’re moving past the point of reconciliation with the Left. Maybe we’d all be happier letting them pick a few states they can turn into their own country w/ no guns, no police, no statues, no genders, no flags, no men & no electricity. The United Freaks of America.” Both screenshots show “@missyreeves,” Reeves’ Instagram handle, liking the posts. The likes have since been removed, PEOPLE reports.

“I’m absolutely disgusted and sick right now and I am no longer in any denial about how [Reeves] feels,” @mgmendacious, the Twitter user who shared the screenshots, wrote. “Take a look at a couple of disgusting and racist Instagram posts she liked.” The Twitter user tagged members of the Days team, including actors Linsey Godfrey, Billy Flynn and Paul Telfer. They also tagged writer Ron Carlivati and co-executive producer Greg Meng.

One person responded to the tweet by defending Reeves’ right to have an opinion. Godfrey quickly responded. “Nah there is no difference in opinion on racism, homophobia, transphobia [and] xenophobia,” she wrote. Godfrey also shared an open letter tweet to “racist white people,” writing, “I know it’s making you SOO upset that I said there is no difference in opinion when it comes to racism, homophobia, transphobia or xenophobia but if you disagree with that then your opinion literally means nothing to me.”

Lamon Archey, who plays Eli Grant, appeared to respond to the controversy with his own tweet. “Who else y’all?” he wrote, alongside a GIF of Michael B. Jordan taking notes. Godfrey responded by sharing a GIF of B.J. Novak taking notes on The Office. Flynn also responded with the GIF of Jim Carrey typing.

Martha Madison, who stars as Belle Black, chimed in on the controversy as well. “It’s so disappointing to watch folks I know either ignore or perpetuate the racism and hate we all see happening,” she wrote. “Even more, I’ll never understand using religion as a reason to only love selective groups of humans. It’s antithetical to the whole belief system. It’s gross.”

Reeves has sparked controversy before. A few years ago, she showed support for Chick-fil-A when there were boycotts over the company’s donations to anti-LGBTQ foundations, reports TVLine. “Land of the free and home of the brave,” Reeves tweeted at the time. “Love that we all appreciate free speech, right?”

NBC and Sony Pictures Television, which produces the series, has not commented. Production on the show has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the show has enough episodes already produced that new ones will continue airing through the fall.