Charlie Hunnam asks fans to stop attacks on his girlfriend

British heartthrob Charlie Hunnam has asked his female fans to stop attacking his girlfriend after negative comments were posted to her online.

The former Sons of Anarchy star has been dating jewelry designer Morgana McNelis since 2005, but it wasn't until recently that Charlie noticed his longtime girlfriend had been receiving mean messages on social media from zealous fans.

On Monday (07Mar16), he decided to speak out against the bullying by posting a missive on his Facebook fan page run by a friend, in hopes of stopping the attacks.

"It has been brought to my attention that there is a group of immature girls posting a large number of hard messages aimed at my long time girlfriend, he wrote. "I would respectfully ask you to stop doing this. She is an intelligent, beautiful, kind person who just tried to live a simple life and has nothing to do with the entertainment industry. If you want to talk s**t, talk s**t about me, leave her out of it."

"What is most confusing is that these negative and totally unprovoked attacks appear to be coming from the people who call themselves my fans. Think about the logic of this for a moment. This is a girl I love very much and have spent the last eleven years of my life with and hope to spend the next sixty years. She has been my loyal and supportive partner long before I had any success or money. Why would you attack her out of admiration for me? It makes no sense."

The original post has since been taken down, but Morgana responded to the outpouring of support she received from fans who condemned the online attacks.

"I just wanted to say I very deeply appreciate all of the kind words said in my defense. I feel infinite gratitude for all of the support that is being shown towards my relationship and business," McNelis wrote on Facebook. "The outpouring of positivity gave me courage to keep being vulnerable and to continue to put myself and my designs out into the universe. It's so encouraging and comforting to know that there are classy, smart, beautiful, compassionate women in this world supporting other women. I couldn't do this without you ladies."

Charlie was previously married to actress Katharine Towne, but divorced after three years of marriage in 2002.