The Acolyte star Jodie Turner-Smith has criticised Disney for not defending the show’s stars amid a racist backlash.
The Star Wars series, which is set around 100 years before the prequel movies, premiered on Disney+ back in June – though was recently cancelled after one season.
However, some of the show’s stars were subjected to racism amid its release, with Amandla Stenberg previously sharing a song in response to abuse she had received. The star later admitted that the series’ cancellation was “not a huge shock” for her, especially after the cast was targeted with a “rampage of vitriol”.
Turner-Smith, who played Mother Aniseya – the leader of the coven of witches that raised Stenberg’s characters Osha and Mae – has claimed that Disney’s silence amid the racist backlash was “unfair”.
“They’ve got to stop doing this thing where they don’t say anything when people are getting fucking dog-piled on the internet with racism and bullshit,” she told Glamour. “It’s just not fair to not say anything. It’s really unfair.
“It would just be nice if the people that have all the money [Disney or other studios] were showing their support and putting their feet down. Say this is unacceptable: ‘You’re not a fan if you do this.’ 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.”
Turner-Smith went on to express hope that “opinions change” and “what’s in vogue changes”.
“We’re gonna get there at some point, to that place where people stop having a stick up their arse about people of colour being a part of IPs that were created by white people,” the star continued. “You know why? Because we’re never going to fucking stop participating.”
Reflecting on the challenges of being a person of colour in sci-fi, notably when a project isn’t as successful as hoped, she noted: “We don’t get to fail upwards like a lot of white men. I just feel that some people are allowed to grow and others have to be perfect, and if they’re not perfect – even when it’s great – people want to fucking tear it apart.”
The Acolyte was created by Russian Doll‘s Leslye Headland, and follows twins Mae and Osha as their paths diverge to the light and dark sides of the Force following a childhood tragedy.
In NME‘s four-star review of the show, we said: “As with everything in Star Wars, balance is everything – but it feels like Headland has managed to walk a finer line than most with The Acolyte. It’s new, without feeling unconnected. Pristine, but not too shiny. Fun, but still substantial. It feels like a place to grow from, as well as a worthy stand-alone story in its own right.”
NME has reached out to Disney for comment.