The official Star Wars social media accounts have made its stance on racism very clear by standing up for actress Moses Ingram after she received hateful messages on social media.
Ingram has joined the Star Wars franchise as the character Reva Sevander in the new Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. The American actress has recently had starring roles in Netflix series The Queen's Gambit, Joel Coen's Oscar-nominated The Tragedy of Macbeth, and Michael Bay's Ambulance.
Her debut in Obi-Wan Kenobi as the lightsaber-wielding character Reva has been celebrated by many but the actress has also received a number of racist DMs which she shared on her Instagram stories.
Recognizing the backlash, the Star Wars Twitter and Instagram accounts spoke out in support of Ingram.
"There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don't choose to be a racist," the statement said. "We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva's story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist."
Writing to their 5.8 million followers on Twitter, and to their 15.2 million on Instagram, the comment sections were filled with overwhelming support for Ingram.
Speaking out on the racist backlash she's received, Ingram also recorded a video for her Instagram followers. Watch her full video message at the top of this page.
She shared screenshots of the messages she's received in her Instagram inbox since joining the franchise. Some of the hateful comments included: "You're days are numbered [sic]" and "You suck loser. You're a diversity hire and you won't be loved or remembered for this acting role."
Unfortunately, Ingram confirmed that this was just a small example of the overall negativity she's received online.
"Long story short, there are hundreds of those, hundreds. and I also see those of you out there who put on a cape for me and that really does mean the world to me, because there's nothing anybody can do about this," Ingram said.
"Thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments, in the places that I'm not gonna put myself." Ingram added, "To the rest of y'all, y'all weird."
Ingram stars alongside Star Wars veterans Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen in Obi-Wan Kenobi. She also joins newcomers to the franchise Rupert Friend, Sung Kang and Joel Edgerton.
New episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi air every Wednesday on Disney+. Episode 3 launches on June 1 with the season finale of the six-part series set to air on June 22, 2022.
About the writer
Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
