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Matt McGorry to 'OITNB' fans: 'TV is not real'

Season three spoilers ahead!

By Tharadjyne Orisma
Actor Matt McGorry attends the 30th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California on February 21, 2015. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
1 of 3 | Actor Matt McGorry attends the 30th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California on February 21, 2015. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

NEW YORK, June 22 (UPI) -- After receiving criticism for his actions as the character John Bennett in the Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black" actor Matt McGorry sent a message to his haters.

"TV is not real," McGorry, who also stars in NBC's How To Get Away With Murder, said on social media.

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Fans sounded off on Instagram about Bennett leaving Dayanara Diaz (Dascha Polanco) high and dry after getting her pregnant and proposing to her on the show.

In a photo taken with Grey's Anatomy's Sarah Drew, along with other pics, McGorry received some hateful comments.

Shaken not slurred. @thesarahdrewgreys #MC2015 #abcstudiostour

A photo posted by Matt McGorry (@mattmcgorry) on

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One comment read: "CHEATER!!! I AM DISGUSTED!!!!" Another: "Who dis [explicit]? Honestly I can't believe you already found another woman after leaving daya and your child."

Others were more understanding:

"Lmfaoooooo the comments with daya and Bennett and the Baby need to stop chill it's just a show that's fiction!"

Happy Fathers Day to all the real fathers out there! I am an actor and I play the fictional character John Bennett on the fictional television show entitled Orange Is The New Black. Here I am with actresses Dascha Polanco and Elizabeth Rodriguez who play make-believe mother-daughter characters named Dayanara and Aleida Diaz on the made up television program with me. They are not mother and Daugther in real life even though they and we play pretend characters that are sometimes even the opposite of who we are as real live people while not reflecting our real lives because it is not real. Moments before this photograph was taken I was even saying words that were written by another person, all the while pretending that my name was John Bennett and that his thoughts and actions were a result of my own brain! Weirdly, the words coming out of my mouth and the things I did in the story were not created by me at all! To make matters even more confusing, I am even dressed in fictional character John Bennett's costume (a costume is like fictional clothes) in this photograph that was taken on the television set and afterwards I went home to my apartment in New York City where I don't have a child because I'm not a father and have never worked in a prison and TV is not real life. #oitnb

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A photo posted by Matt McGorry (@mattmcgorry) on

On Father's Day, McGorry posted a photo to address the insults and explain why he didn't deserve all the hate.

In the pic, McGorry is dressed in his prison guard costume while posing with fellow co-stars Polanco and Elizabeth Rodriguez, who play Dayanara and Aleida Diaz on the show.

"They are not mother and daughter in real life even though they and we play pretend characters that are sometimes even the opposite of who we are as real live people while not reflecting our real lives because it is not real," McGorry wrote. "Moments before this photograph was taken I was even saying words that were written by another person, all the while pretending that my name was John Bennett and that his thoughts and actions were a result of my own brain! Weirdly, the words coming out of my mouth and the things I did in the story were not created by me at all! To make matters even more confusing, I am even dressed in fictional character John Bennett's costume (a costume is like fictional clothes) in this photograph that was taken on the television set and afterwards I went home to my apartment in New York City where I don't have a child because I'm not a father and have never worked in a prison and TV is not real life."

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In an interview with Vulture, McGorry explained why Bennett thought things would be better if he left.

"I think it's sort of who Bennett is: He wants to be the hero so bad, and he tries but falls short," he said. "It's pretty tragic, but there is some part of me that thinks Bennett believes he was doing the better thing by leaving. It allows Pornstache's mother to step in, it allows other things to shift. I mean, if you think of it, that relationship has been a ticking time bomb since the beginning."

The relationship between Bennett and Diaz remains a mystery until season four, which, according to Entertainment Weekly, is "already on lockdown."

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