The actress denounces that the studio does not protect black actors from xenophobic hate comments.
In 2024, Jodie Turner-Smith played “Mother” Aniseya, the leader of a matriarchal coven of witches in space, in the first season of the Disney+ series “Star Wars: The Acolyte”. Now the actress has addressed the streaming platform’s parent company in an interview with critical words. He would not do enough to prevent black people from the cast in particular from being confronted with racist hostility on the Internet.
Turner-Smith defends co-star Stenberg
In an interview with “Glamour UK,” Turner-Smith was primarily referring to her fellow actress Amandla Stenberg, who plays her two twin daughters in the series. In the weeks before the season finale, she was subjected to racist insults from alleged fans of the “Star Wars” series on the Internet who did not accept that a black actress played the lead role in a “Star Wars” series. In a self-created rap song on Instagram from June 20th, Stenberg shot against white racists and the everyday oppression of African-American people in the USA.
But Turner-Smith is annoyed that Disney apparently didn’t protect the 25-year-old: “It’s disappointing when you get the feeling that the studio doesn’t have your back in public. They need to stop saying nothing when people are bombarded with racism and other crap online. It’s just not fair to say nothing. It’s really unfair.”
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An announcement to the Disney bosses
If anyone had the power and influence to stop discrimination, it would be the people in charge at Disney: “It would just be nice if the people who have all the money – be it Disney or another studio – would use their authority to prevent something. Says this is unacceptable: ‘You’re not a fan if you do that.’ Make a really big declaration and see if there really is no more money coming in. I bet that won’t be the case because people of color and especially black people make up a very large percentage of purchasing power. They might find that it’s actually more lucrative for them, but everyone uses ‘woke’ like it’s a dirty word.”
No more seasons for “The Acolyte”
“The Acolyte” was canceled after the first season, allegedly due to low ratings. This decision came as a surprise to some because the finale of the first season left many unanswered questions and a sequel seemed to be on the horizon. The series divided the audience. Many praised the bold and unconventional approach to tarnishing the bright image of the Jedi. Others, however, saw these decisions as a betrayal of the traditional “Star Wars” narrative, which clearly distinguishes between good and evil.
