Jodie Turner-Smith is calling it like it is when it comes to the racism and hate directed at her and her costars on The Acolyte.
During an interview with Glamour U.K. earlier this month, Turner-Smith, 38, called out Disney for the alleged lack of support they provided after The Acolyte received backlash from toxic fans.
“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—,” Turner-Smith said about the network not publicly addressing the negative response toward the show’s inclusivity. “It’s just not fair to not say anything. It’s really unfair.”
Turner-Smith, who played Mother Aniseya, wished there was more of a “really big statement” on the matter, especially since there are so many people of color and “especially Black people” who support the Star Wars brand.
“It would just be nice if the people that have all the money — whether that be Disney or any studio — were showing their support and putting their feet down. Say this is unacceptable: ‘You’re not a fan if you do this,'” she continued. “They might find that it’s actually more lucrative for them, but everyone’s using ‘woke’ like it’s a dirty word.”
The Acolyte, which premiered on Disney+ in June, was set before the events of The Skywalker Saga as a series of murders led Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) to reconnect with former pupil Osha (Amandla Stenberg) — and her not-so-dead twin sister, Mae. Sol quickly learned that sinister forces were at play as Mae’s history with a mysterious Sith master was uncovered.
Despite receiving critical acclaim, The Acolyte was review-bombed by viewers who questioned the show’s decision to feature an inclusive cast that offered representation to several minority groups. The Acolyte was subsequently canceled, which is when Stenberg, 25, directly addressed the hate the cast received from certain corners of the Star Wars universe fanbase.
“I’m going to be transparent and say it’s not a huge shock for me,” Stenberg said via Instagram Stories in August. “There has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced, when it was still just a concept and no one had even seen it. That’s when we started experiencing a rampage of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred and hateful language towards us.”
Stenberg pointed out that The Acolyte received an overwhelming amount of backlash before any episodes were even released.
“This really affected me when I first got the job, because it’s just not something — even though I anticipated it happening — it’s not something you can fully understand what it feels like until it’s happening to you,” they continued. “However, I feel like I’ve kind of moved through those feelings in various ways, including being vocal about it myself.”
Stenberg concluded: “It just became inarguable for me at a certain point that in order to continue to be myself, I would have to honor my value system by being vocal even in the context of working for Disney.”
Disney has not yet publicly addressed Turner-Smith or Stenberg’s comments. The Star Wars franchise has been known to face racist messages and even threats. In 2022, Moses Ingram broke her silence about the “hundreds” of offensive and threatening messages sent to her about her role in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Lucasfilm posted a statement via its Star Wars social media accounts at the time, and her costar Ewan McGregor slammed the toxic backlash.
