Sophia Michaels
Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and Madison Pettis all got their start on Barney and Friends. But the show and its creators got to witness a much darker side of the “I love you”-singing dinosaur, thanks to those who spewed hate for the beloved character, as a new docuseries addresses. I Love You, You Hate Me — which covers the rumor mill, threats, and disdain the dinosaur character faced — shared its trailer on Wednesday.
The trailer features interviews with actors who portrayed the purple dinosaur, including Bob West, along with other folks who worked on the show, and pop culture leaders such as Al Roker and Bill Nye.
“As [creator Sheryl Leach’s] beloved character was heading into the stratosphere, people couldn’t accept that this was just a show,” Roker says in the video. “And so, let the bashing begin.”
The trailer taps into some of the rumors related to the dinosaur, such as one that claimed he stored drugs in his tail. But the rumors led to threats of violence for the actors who portrayed the lovable dinosaur.
“They were violent and explicit, death and dismemberment of my family,” said West, who played Barney. “They were gonna come and find me, and they were going to kill me.”
Even the series’ director Tommy Avallone said making this film was personal, as he too hated Barney as a child.
“As a teenager, for one of my birthdays I asked my aunt to make me a Barney costume, so my friends and I could beat him up on camera,” he told People. “Several years later, creating this docuseries, it feels good to be on the other side and no longer a Barney hater. Now having children of my own, I understand all the love that went into making the purple dinosaur.”
The trailer ends with a woman mysteriously saying, “I don’t think you could ever think somebody could go and shoot someone.”
I Love You, You Hate Me premieres Oct. 12 on Peacock. The docuseries is separate from a live-action film based on Barney, which is being made by Daniel Kaluuya‘s production company.
