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Jodie Turner-Smith has hit out at Disney for failing to protect Acolyte co-star Amandla Stenberg stars from Star Wars trolls.
The British actor played Mother Aniseya in The Acolyte, a spin-off show that was cancelled after being review bombed by viewers who sent “vitriolic” messages to its lead star Amandla Stenberg.
Stenberg has been vocal about their experience, revealing that they received “hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language” after being cast in the show. They said the remarks “really affected me when I first got the job”.
In a new interview with Glamour, Turner-Smith called out Disney for staying silent on the abuse Stenberg was subjected to, stating: “They’ve got to stop doing this thing where they don’t say anything when people are getting f***ing dog-piled on the internet with racism and bulls***. It’s just not fair to not say anything. It’s really unfair.”
She jumped to the defence of her co-star, adding: “She put so much care and thought and love into that, and it’s disappointing to feel like your studio is not having your back in a very public-facing way.”
Turner-smith said studios “that have all the money”, like Disney, should say “this is unacceptable” or “you’re not a fan if you do this” as “they might find that it’s actually more lucrative for them”.
She continued: “Make a really big statement and just see if any money leaves. I bet you it won’t, because people of colour, and especially Black people, make up a very large percentage of buying power. They might find that it’s actually more lucrative for them, but everyone’s using ‘woke’ like it’s a dirty word.”
The Independent has contacted Disney for comment.
This isn’t the first time a non-white actor working on a Star Wars project has found themselves at the centre of racist abuse – John Boyega, who played Finn in the rebooted film trilogy (2015-19), has been open about the racism he faced while starring in the franchise while Kelly Marie Tran, his co-star in 2017’s The Last Jedi, was forced to step away from limelight after receiving a flurry of racist and sexist remarks.
Meanwhile, Moses Ingram had a similar expreience while starring in 2022 spin-off series Obi-Wan Kenobi, with the actor telling The Independent that Lucasfilm executives warned her that she would likely face harassment online from racist Star Wars trolls as a Black woman entering the franchise.
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After Ingram’s co-star Ewan McGregor spoke out in support of the actor, Disney shared a statement reading: “We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist,” the tweet read.
The statement continued: “There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.”
