Much-loved American actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan has revealed he still gets abused on the street for the behavior of his “The Walking Dead” character Negan.
Former “Grey’s Anatomy” star Morgan, 60, began playing Negan in season 6 of the post-apocalyptic horror series in 2016. He became a main character in the show at the beginning of season 7.
In an infamous scene in season 7’s opening episode, “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be,” having flamboyantly emerged from his Winnebago, Negan beat two beloved characters — Michael Cudlitz’s Abraham Ford and Steven Yeun’s Glenn Rhee — to death with “Lucille,” his baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.
It remains one of the most shocking moments in the show’s history — or indeed the history of the entire franchise (given the various spin-offs that have come from the original series).
In a recent podcast interview, Morgan revealed he still receives abuse on the street for Negan’s early actions.
Fans Conflate Jeffrey Dean Morgan With Negan
GettyPer IGN, Jeffrey Dean Morgan spoke to Josh Horowitz on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast on Monday, August 10, about the abuse he still receives on the street. Morgan says fans conflate him with Negan, the character he plays in “The Walking Dead,” and treat him as if it was him who took a baseball bat to Glenn and Abraham’s skulls.
The actor said, “I still get hate. I get people all the time that are just furious with the fact that I killed Glenn. He was so loved. And I never understood how they didn’t know it was going to happen. Like Glenn was, I thought, a gimme. Abraham was a bonus. But Glenn died in the comic books, and that had come out four years prior. And so I was kind of shocked with the amount of people that one, it just sucked the air right out of them, but that just hated Negan and Jeffrey Dean with fervor. With fervor!”
Morgan then described the most extreme example of the abuse he receives. It happened when he was out and about with his “The Walking Dead” co-star and pal Norman Reedus.
Morgan Once Got Attacked by an Old Lady for Playing Negan
GettyThe star said, “In Georgia, Norman and I would ride around motorcycles a lot and we’d go to various places, and I remember we had stopped at this coffee place and we got a coffee. This old lady — she was probably 80 — she was with her granddaughter who was super excited to see Norman and I. But when she saw me, the older lady, she smacked me with her purse and started swearing at me, like dropping f-bombs! And it was like, serious. I remember Norman was like, ‘We got to go. We got to get the hell out of here. Like this is serious.”
He added, “But I still can walk down the street in New York today… we could go out right now and someone’s going to yell at me and flip me off.”
Fortunately, Morgan takes the abuse in his stride and even calls it “hilarious.”
He continued, saying, “I’ve gotten so used to it now that it’s just part of the deal. If you go online — I don’t anymore — but it’s tremendous the amount of hate that Negan has. It’s a good 50/50 split, or people love to hate him.”
Morgan Recently Reprised His Role as Negan
GettyJeffrey Dean Morgan recently reprised his iconic role as Negan for the third season of “The Walking Dead” spin-off series “The Walking Dead: Dead City.”
For those of you unfamiliar with the spin-off, per IMDb, “Maggie and Negan travel into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long ago cut off from the mainland. The city is filled with the dead and denizens who have made New York City their own world.”
The first episode aired on AMC on Sunday, July 26. Two more episodes have released weekly since, with episode 4 coming this Sunday, August 16. In total, eight episodes will air, with the finale coming on Sunday, September 13.
Reception to the series has generally been good. Its Rotten Tomatoes approval rating is an impressive 78%.
Morgan has had a busy year in 2026. As well as returning as Negan, his small screen credits include guest starring in season 5 of superhero series “The Boys,” lending his voice to animated superhero series “Invincible,” and appearing in drama series “Sterling Point.”
We’ll look forward to seeing Negan’s latest arc develop in “The Walking Dead: Dead City.” But, please, fans of “The Walking Dead,” stop abusing Morgan in the street!
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s filmography info was courtesy of IMDb.
