Touchdown a job on one in all Peak TV’s hottest comedies looks as if it’d be an enviable gig it doesn’t matter what the small print have been. And whereas that’s probably the case most of the time, horror tales throughout the business do certainly exist, with The Workplace alum Lindsey Broad non-enjoying a first-person expertise with simply how despicable fandoms can get the place controversial characters are concerned.
First showing in what’s arguably The Workplace’s worst cycle, Season 8, Broad arrived within the seventh episode as temp employee Cathy Simms, who landed at Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton department to assist fill in as Pam transitioned into her maternity depart. Regardless of her seemingly regular conduct early on, it’s quickly clear that Cathy doesn’t actually mesh nicely with others, however harbors romantic emotions for Jim, ultimately culminating in her brazen makes an attempt to sleep with him in “After Hours.”
Considered each on the time and within the intervening years as a clumsy and ill-conceived try and inject drama into Jim and Pam’s picture-perfect relationship timeline, Cathy’s arc was minimize quick quickly after, however that was solely the start of Lindsey Broad’s years of coping with obsessive and wildly immature Workplace followers who spew hateful messages on-line, even throughout her makes an attempt to mourn her lifeless canine. Talking with Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey on their beloved podcast Workplace Women, Broad shared:
I’ll say the Web is only a actually loopy place. And there was a second — I tweeted one thing again when I was on Twitter. When my canine was killed and I had posted on Instagram that my canine had died, there was a bunch of feedback beneath being like, ‘Fuck you, Cathy. You deserve it.’
Everyone knows the Web is gonna Web, no matter whether or not there’s justification for it or not. However to angrily goal an F-bomb at somebody mourning a canine’s demise as a result of a fictional character they didn’t create, however solely portrayed throughout roughly 20-25 whole minutes of screentime? That is abysmal conduct for anybody to should take care of.
Broad beforehand addressed followers’ harsh remedy at a degree when the net feedback appeared to be extra prevalent, when the present was nonetheless streaming on Netflix forward of shifting to Peacock. And regardless of a number of years going by, it is nonetheless type of stunning to listen to that she’s handled such unfiltered negativity on-line for such a comparatively minor function in a largely forgettable season. Perhaps if any of her appearances occurred in the very best Workplace episodes of all time, however that is not the case.
Fortunately, it seems as if Lindsey Broad’s experiences with bitter viewers has been restricted to on-line reactions, and her every day life is not tormented by such interactions. However a part of that’s as a result of she purposefully does not promote her previous profession heights. As she put it:
So far as I do know, it doesn’t actually have an effect on my actual life, as a result of my actual life — I compartmentalize. I exploit the identical final title as my youngsters, I attempt to be fairly unassuming in my actual life. So I don’t understand how a lot it bleeds over into how sure individuals see me or deal with me. Sometimes, if I meet any individual they usually similar to actually do not like me even if I am being very pleasant, I am all the time like at the back of my head, like, ‘Is that what it’s?’
It seems as if Broad has been in a position to curb disturbing on-line reactions by limiting her social media exercise, since that extra simply allowed Workplace followers to trace her down line. However the actress is extra welcoming to having real-world dialogues with followers, for the reason that very act of recognizing her in public is an indication that they seem to be a true fan and never only a disgruntled Pam and Jen stan. In her phrases:
Right here’s what I’ll say. The web is a loopy place. I’ve gotten used to individuals calling me Cathy. Nevertheless, once I meet individuals in actual life, individuals are so excited. If individuals are large enough followers of The Workplace that they will acknowledge me, and once more, I am kind of an unassuming wanting individual. I am not like, very flashy wanting. So in the event that they acknowledge me, they seem to be a huge fan. Individuals are so excited to see any individual from this present that they’re simply extremely good. The Web is a unique story.
The Workplace‘s recognition reached the purpose simply this 12 months in 2025 the place a previously closed Chili’s in Scranton, Pennsylvania reopened particularly to have fun the twentieth anniversary of the spinoff debuting on NBC. So I assume it should not be shocking to listen to that sure pockets of the fandom selected to go all scorched-earth anytime an impediment (human or in any other case) acquired in the best way of Jim and Pam’s happiness. But it surely’s been 13 years since Cathy got here and went, so possibly these emotions might be put to relaxation.