The Star Wars fandom is filled with racist, homophobic, sexist and otherwise toxic trolls, and the creators behind the franchise aren’t standing for it any longer. Actors like John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran received the worst of the hatred following The Last Jedi, despite some fans’ claims that they hated their characters … but actors in real life are not the characters they portray in stories. Interesting.
Boyega stood at the forefront of big studios like Lucasfilm finally making an effort to push back against toxicity in the fandoms they create content for. When racism clouded his Star Wars experience, there wasn’t anyone official behind him to help.
“I’m the one that brought this to the freaking forefront,” he told Men’s Health when asked if any higher-ups were committed to protecting him. “At least the people going into it now, after my time, [they’re] cool… [they’re] going to make sure you’re well supported and at least you [now] go through this franchise knowing that everybody is going to have [your] back. I’m glad I talked out everything at that time.”
He’s largely referring to Moses Ingram here, who called out racist comments on her Instagram profile after her debut as Reva in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Lead actor Ewan McGregor was on the front lines of protecting his co-star, posting a video asking toxic trolls to back off.
Reva and her brilliant actor were given all the love they deserved both in-universe and outside of it. Chances are, this wouldn’t have happened to that scale if Boyega hadn’t said something when he and Tran were the ones being torn down.
It shouldn’t be up to actors to tell toxic fans to go find a different hobby. But at least they’re standing up for each other, which is a start.
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