“Star Wars” actor John Boyega seems to be pushing all the wrong buttons this week, from Reylo fans to feminists. Before his throwing caution to the wind on New Year’s Eve by openly mocking the Disney trilogy, the actor stepped into heavy social media fire when he made a rather raunchy joke regarding the character Rey (played by actress Daisy Ridley).
According to Insider, Boyega posted a video of himself dancing on Instagram to celebrate New Year’s Eve, which prompted one fan to make a joke about how Boyega’s character, Finn, can now date the character Rey due to Kylo Ren being out of the picture. SPOILER: Rey and Kylo share a kiss “The Rise of Skywalker” just before the latter dies.
“My boy after realizing Kylo died so he can date Rey,” said the fan, to which Boyega replied, “It’s not about who she kisses but who eventually lays the pipe. You are a genius.”
According to Urban Dictionary, the phrase “lay the pipe” refers to sexual intercourse. Boyega’s casual use of the term prompted some fans to accuse him of sexism.
“Bro you re extremely disgusting and gross also f—ing disrespectful…you cannot be this jealous of Adam Driver dude,” said one Twitter user. “As a black woman im f***ing ashamed that someone like you represented us in ‘Star Wars.'”
“You obviously don’t know the difference between a fictional world and reality,” Boyega said in response. “Daisy knows she isn’t the character. Lol so tbh she doesn’t give AF.”
In a later tweet, Boyega defended his joke, saying: “I will say it 500000 times. Two consenting adults can lay down whatever the hell they want ya sensitive!” That defense prompted another person to say, “You’re still a misogynist,” to which Boyega replied: “And you’re an idiot.”
Daisy Ridley has given no comment on the issue. Other Twitter users were quick to label Boyega a sexist for making a raunchy joke.
“People should stop saying ‘it’s just a joke’ about disgusting, degrading sexual comments about women just because an actor we love(d) saying them,” said one Twitter user. “In fairness, John Boyega, like any person can be allowed mistakes/misunderstandings. What’s bad here is the way he dragged the issue.”
“It was disgusting and when I responded several fans were telling me that other people have been disgusting,” tweeted another user. “This does not make it okay, and calling it a joke does not make it ok. If someone makes a racial slur against you and then says ‘oh, I was joking’ this does not make it ok.”
Others found humor in the situation and mocked people for taking the joke so seriously.
“Shame on you John Boyega for this MASSIVELY misogynistic sex joke,” one user jocularly stated. “It was wildly inappropriate given the fact that I have never heard about sex or left my house in my life. Anyway please find attached 250 of my best [Reylo] BDSM fanart to prove my point.”
According to Vulture, Boyega’s raunchy joke sparked the wave that eventually led to him openly mocking the Disney “Star Wars” trilogy on New Year’s Eve by noting the toxic, uneven relationship that unfolded between the characters Rey and Kylo Ren.
Star Wars romance 😗👀🙂 pic.twitter.com/ngB6XEMMS2
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) December 31, 2019