Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor has taken the unusual step of telling fans of the franchise there is no room for racism in the galaxy far, far away.
McGregor, who plays Obi-Wan Kenobi in the latest Star Wars series of the same name on Disney+, used a video posted to Twitter to criticise fans who have sent racist messages to his co-star, American actor Moses Ingram.
His defence of Ingram has drawn the attention from fans around the world and has been viewed millions of times — but fans have also drawn parallels to previous instances of abuse that Star Wars cast members have received.
It all started on Instagram
Ingram, who plays the villainous Inquisitor Reva Sevander, shared five screenshots of direct messages she had been sent on her Instagram stories on Tuesday, that ranged from telling her "you're [sic] days are numbered" to calling her a "diversity hire".
"Long story short there are hundreds of those [messages], hundreds," Ingram said in a series of Instagram stories.
"I also see those of you out there who put on a cape for me and that really does mean the world to me because you know, there's nothing anybody can do about this.
Ingram said she felt conflicted about sharing the tirades of abusive messages she had received, but she wasn't prepared to accept them as part of the norm when playing a character.
"The thing that bothers me is that, like, sort of this feeling that I've had inside of myself, which no one has told me, but this feeling of, like, 'I've just got to shut up and take it', you know, 'I've just got to grin and bear it', and I'm not built like that.
"So I really just wanted to come on I think and say thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments and the places where I'm not going to put myself.
An hour later, Star Wars weighed in
The company behind Star Wars was quick to condemn the racist messages Ingram had received, by posting on its social media platforms.
"We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva's story to unfold," the statement said.
"If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist.
On Twitter and Instagram, thousands of fans praised Star Wars for vocalising their support of Ingram.
"It's a shame it even has to be said in this day and age but thank you for sticking up for her!" one account wrote.
"Moses Ingram does not deserve this hate. She could play the worst Star Wars character ever, that is never a reason to DM someone calling them racist slurs," another account wrote.
Sam Witwer, who has starred in several Star Wars films, television shows and video games, said the statement was the right thing to do.
"No company wants to make a tweet like this, but it's the right thing," he tweeted.
Obi-Wan himself then shared a message
But the franchise's support of Ingram didn't stop there — nearly 19 hours later, Star Wars shared a video titled "A personal message from Ewan McGregor" on Twitter.
McGregor started by thanking Star Wars fans for making Obi-Wan Kenobi the most watched Disney+ original series premiere of all time.
"For that I would say a big thank you and it just goes to show what this family can do when we all pull together," he said.
McGregor then pivoted to address the messages Ingram had received, condemning the "most horrendous, racist DMs" that "broke my heart".
"Moses is a brilliant actor, she's a brilliant woman and she's absolutely amazing in this series, she brings so much to the series and so much to the franchise and it just sickened me to my stomach to hear that this had been happening," he said.
"I just want to say as the leading actor in the series, as the executive producer on the series is that we stand with Moses, we love Moses and if you're sending her bullying messages, you're no Star Wars fans in my mind.
Star Wars hasn't always been this vocal
Although fans have lauded the company for its support of Ingram, some have pointed out that past cast members weren't offered the same treatment when they were subjected to abuse online.
John Boyega, who played Finn in the sequel trilogy films The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and the Rise of Skywalker, expressed his frustration that his experience with the franchise was based on his race during an interview with GQ in 2020.
"Nobody else in the cast had people saying they were going to boycott the movie because [they were in it]," he said.
"Nobody else had the uproar and death threats sent to their Instagram DMs and social media, saying 'Black this and black that and you shouldn't be a Stormtrooper.' Nobody else had that experience."
Kelly Marie Tran, who starred in The Last Jedi alongside Boyega, was also subjected to intense trolling online, which culminated in her deleting her Instagram posts in 2018.
"It was basically me being like, 'Oh, this isn't good for my mental health. I'm obviously going to leave this'," she told the Hollywood Reporter in March.
Daisy Ridley also received abuse when she was introduced to the franchise in 2015, before deleting her Instagram account a year later.
Ridley had previously vowed never to return (she went as far as telling BuzzFeed her social media use was "cut off like a Skywalker limb") but she resumed posting on Instagram earlier this year.
