Disney calls out "racist" fans in message of support for Star Wars actress Moses Ingram
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Note: This article discusses topics including racist hate speech.
Star Wars has hit out at racist trolls who have been targeting Obi-Wan Kenobi actress Moses Ingram online.
The first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi were recently released on Disney+ and featured newcomer Ingram as Inquisitor Reva, the latest villain to grace the franchise.
However, in the days following the show's release, Ingram has received a tirade of racist abuse on social media, prompting the official Star Wars account to issue a statement of support for Ingram as they condemned the "racist" messages she'd received.
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"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," the account shared.
"There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist."
There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2022
The statement comes as Ingram shared examples of the racist abuse she had received from Star Wars viewers on her Instagram Stories, later following it up with a video of her saying she'd received "hundreds" of similar comments.
"I think the thing that bothers me is this feeling that I've had inside of myself, which no one has told me, but it's this feeling of 'shut up and take it - you just have to grin and bear it', and I'm not built like that," she said.
"I really just wanted to come on, I think, and say thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments and the places that I'm not going to put myself. And to the rest of y'all – y'all weird."
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Sadly, Ingram shared recently that she had been warned about being targeted by racist trolls ahead of the show's debut.
"It was something that Lucasfilm actually got in front of, and said, 'This is a thing that, unfortunately, likely will happen. But we are here to help you; you can let us know when it happens,'" she told The Independent.
Ingram is not the first franchise star to receive such abuse. Previously, both John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran received similar racist comments after they joined the franchise, with Tran later deleting her social media accounts as a result.
Obi-Wan Kenobi has started streaming on Disney+.
If you've been affected by racism and racist hate crime, then organisations including the Equality and Advisory Support Service (EASS), the Monitoring Group, Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI) and Stop Hate UK are among those which can offer help and support.
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