Jen Lilley's character comparison creates chaos

A Twitter post comparing Days of our Lives' Theresa with General Hospital's Maxie created a whirlwind of controversy. The social media firestorm involved Jen Lilley, Kirsten Storms, and their fans.

Days of our Lives newcomer Jen Lilley set off a social media maelstrom of controversy after a Twitter post compared her current role, DAYS' Jeannie Theresa Donovan, to her former General Hospital role, Maxie Jones.

"I feel like Theresa could kick Maxie's ass with one hand tied behind her back. #Days vs #GH #loving it," Lilley wrote.

Lilley served as an emergency fill-in on GH when actress Kirsten Storms, who also appeared on DAYS as Belle Black, was sidelined on medical leave from September 2011 through August 2012.

After Lilley's first tweet, Storms weighed in with "[M]aybe her Maxie. But not mine." Around the same time, Storms also posted a Mark Twain post that many are linking to the cyber-scuffle. "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

Lilley continued, claiming that General Hospital's executive producer, Frank Valentini, had asked Lilley if the show should kill off the character of Maxie. The statement raised eyebrows, including those of Farah Fath (ex-Gigi Morasco, One Life to Live; ex-Mimi Lockhart, DAYS), who questioned why an Emmy-winning EP would ask a temporary hire for advice about a legacy character's future.

The back and forth had hundreds of fans on both sides of the argument -- and even those with no proverbial horses in the race -- weighing in. Eventually Lilley returned to Twitter to assure fans that her initial comment was not intended to slight Storms or any of Storms's fans.

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"This whole thing has been blown way out of proportion," Lilley later shared on TwitLonger, a service that allows the use of more than Twitter's 140-character limit. "I simply wrote a tweet, which was only intended to be funny regarding my portrayal of two characters. I wasn't commenting about Kirsten or her performance as Maxie at all. Those who follow me or have even read one article of mine know that I would never say something negative about another person, especially not Kirsten Storms. Life is too short to be mean-spirited. I am sincerely delighted that she is well enough to resume her rightful place a Maxie Jones on GH. And I am having the time of my life as Jeannie Theresa Donovan on DAYS; there's no place I'd rather be. But even if I didn't have a job, i would be happy for her. Good health is worth more than any job, and there's no role in the world worth being bitter over. All I meant was based on what's written, I think Theresa is one tough cookie. The fact that I need to even clarify this is beyond me. Some people live to make mountains out of molehills. If you are a fan, I am asking you to help extinguish this rumor mill and respond with grace and love. We can't control how others respond, only ourselves. Choose love and grace. If haters will hate no matter what, then lovers should love no matter what."

Lilley did not elaborate on her remark that General Hospital had planned to kill off Maxie.

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