THE ACOLYTE Star Blasts Disney for Failing to Protect Stars From Racist Abuse From STAR WARS Fans
Star Wars: The Acolyte actress Jodie Turner-Smith is not happy with how Disney handled things when some of the cast members of the series were being attacked online by racist Star Wars fans.
During a recent interview with Glamour, Turner-Smith blasted Disney for not doing more to protect the cast and crew from the "racism and bulls**t" and "dogpiling". She’s bothered that Disney isn’t saying anything and "putting their feet down."
The actress said: "They've got to stop doing this thing where they don't say anything when people are getting f*****g dog-piled on the internet with racism and bulls**t. "It's just not fair to not say anything. It's really unfair."
She went on to say: "It would just be nice if the people that have all the money 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 color, 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."
She’s hopeful that things will change in the future, noting "opinions change." She added: "Were gonna get there at some point, to that place where people stop having a stick up their arse about people of color being a part of IPs that were created by white people.
"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 f*****g tear it apart."
She definitely didn’t hold back on how she really felt about the situation she and her cast found herself in. There’s no doubt that her comments will spark an emotional response from fans who both agree with her and disagree.
Disney canceled The Acolyte after only one season. There was some speculation that the negative backlash the Star Wars community contributed to the decision to cancel the show, but according to insiders, it was canceled because it simply didn’t have the viewership for Disney to want to keep pumping money into the show.
Hollywood is well aware of the toxic fandom out there and they are trying to figure out a way to combat it. I recently wrote an article about that and what studios are trying to do to help. But, none of the things mentioned involve what Turner-Smith is suggesting.
While they are doing a lot of stuff to prepare talent for the onslaught of toxic fandom, the studios are trying to balance the need to respect fan devotion with the responsibility to protect the creators and stars behind these projects. So, calling out the fans for their behavior is something they are hesitant to do.
Do you have any ideas on what studios should be doing in response to the toxic fandom?