Official Star Wars social media accounts issued a statement Monday defending “Obi-Wan Kenobi” star Moses Ingram from alleged racist online attacks, which she had gone public with on her own social media.
The post began, “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 then added, “There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist,”
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. pic.twitter.com/lZW0yvseBk
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2022
Ingram joined the “Star Wars” family as Reva Sevander, the Third Sister, who is hunting Obi-Wan Kenobi for Darth Vader in the new Disney+ series. She shared on Instagram stories examples of harassing online messages she’s been receiving since joining the cast.
“There’s nothing anybody can do about this,” Ingram said in a video after relaying some of the worst messages she’s seen. “There’s nothing anybody can do to stop this hate. I question my purpose in even being here in front of you saying that this is happening. I don’t really know.”
“The thing that bothers me is this feeling inside of myself, that no one has told me, but this feeling that I have to shut up and take it, that I have to grin and bear it,” she continued. “And I’m not built like that. So, I wanted to come on 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.”
“Star Wars” actor Ewan McGregor, who plays Obi-Wan Kenobi in the miniseries, denounced the haters on social media as well.
“It seems that some of the fan base has decided to attack Moses Ingram online and send her the most horrendous, racist [direct messages]. I heard some of them this morning, and it just broke my heart,” McGregor said.
“Moses is a brilliant actor. She is a brilliant woman. And she is absolutely amazing in this series. She brings so much to the series, she brings so much to the franchise. And it just sickened me to my stomach to hear that this had been happening. I just want to say as the leading actor in the series, as the executive producer on the series, that we stand with Moses. We love Moses.”
He concluded: “And if you’re sending her bullying messages, you’re no Star Wars fan in my mind. There’s no place for racism in this world. And I totally stand with Moses.”