Actor Simon Pegg said during a recent radio interview that “Star Wars” had the most toxic fan base — especially when compared to “Star Trek.”
Pegg, uniquely qualified to address that particular question because he has appeared in both franchises, made the comments on Sirius XM’s “Jim and Sam” radio show.
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The Fandom Menace got Triggered over Simon Pegg's opinion on Star Wars Fans right now pic.twitter.com/Y5rQXwnHta
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“Who have you found has the hardest fans to please when you’re like jumping into the franchises between ‘Dr. Who,’ ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Wars.’ I mean, these are people who, who take these licenses very, very seriously,” co-host Sam Roberts began.
“To be honest — And as someone who kind of was, you know, kicked off about the prequels when they came out, the ‘Star Wars’ fan base really seems to be the most kind of toxic at the moment. I’m probably being very controversial to say that,” Pegg replied.
The “Shaun of the Dead” actor went on to note that he had said some things he regretted — and later apologized for — about the “Star Wars” prequels, particularly the widely-panned character Jar-Jar Binks.
“I mean, I’m out of it now … I’ve apologized for the things I said about, you know, Jar Jar Binks. Cause of course there was a f***ing actor involved there. He was getting a lot of flack and … It was a human being. And because it got a lot of hate, he suffered, you know, and I feel terrible about being part of that,” Pegg said.
Actor Ahmed Best — the human behind the CGI character — said that the backlash got so bad that he considered suicide. Sharing a photo with his young son in 2018, Best said, “20 years next year I faced a media backlash that still affects my career today. This was the place I almost ended my life … It’s still hard to talk about. I survived and now this little guy is my gift for survival.”
Pegg then pivoted to compare the franchise to “Star Trek,” where he played the role of Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in the recent series reboot.
“I find the ‘Star Trek’ fans have always been very, very inclusive, you know, ‘Star Trek’s about diversity. It has been since 1966, it always was,” he explained. “There’s no sort of like, ‘Oh, you’re suddenly being woke.’ No, ‘Star Trek’ was woke from the beginning, you know? … This is massively progressive. ‘Star Wars’ suddenly there’s, there’s a little bit more diversity and everyone’s kicking off about it. And it’s, it’s really sad.”