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Author Rick Riordan is taking a stand for a young actor who is being bullied online after she was cast in the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Riordan, who wrote the Percy Jackson books, accused online trolls of being racist and attacking Leah Jeffries, who is Black, for being cast as Annabeth Chase, who is described as white in the Percy Jackson novels.

In a May 10 blog post published on his website, Riordan condemned “negative comments” directed to Jeffries, and called for the harassment to stop. He wrote, “If you have a problem with this casting, … take it up with me. You have no one else to blame. Whatever else you take from this post, we should be able to agree that bullying and harassing a child online is inexcusably wrong.”

Riordan continued, “As strong as Leah is, as much as we have discussed the potential for this kind of reaction and the intense pressure this role will bring, the negative comments she has received online are out of line. They need to stop. Now.”

Directly addressing fans who “felt offended or exasperated” after being accused of racism in their reaction to Jeffries’ casting, Riordan wrote, “You are upset/disappointed/frustrated/angry because a Black actor has been cast to play a character who was described as white in the books … You either are not aware, or have dismissed, Leah’s years of hard work honing her craft, her talent, her tenacity, her focus, her screen presence.”

He added, “You refuse to believe her selection could have been based on merit,” before accusing critics of pre-judging Jeffries and deciding “she must have been hired simply to fill a quota or tick a diversity box.”

Riordan then slammed people who “refuse” to believe him — “the guy who wrote the books and created these characters” — writing, “You feel I must have been coerced, brainwashed, bribed, threatened, whatever, or I as a white male author never would have chosen a Black actor for the part of this canonically white girl.

“You are judging her appropriateness for this role solely and exclusively on how she looks,” he wrote. “She is a Black girl playing someone who was described in the books as white. Friends, that is racism.”

Riordan then schooled fans on the message of his books, stating that Percy Jackson is about strength in differences. The author said failing to understand that “anyone can be a hero” means that “you didn’t learn anything” from his books. He closed out his statement by writing, “Watch the show or don’t. That’s your call. But this will be an adaptation that I am proud of.”

Percy Jackson and the Olympians follows titular character Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell), who has been bestowed with powers from Greek Gods. Along with Jeffries, the series also stars Aryan Simhadri as Grover.