Amandla Stenberg isn’t surprised “The Acolyte” was canceled following a “rampage of vitriol” over its inclusive messaging.
Stenberg led the cast of the Star Wars spin-off as both Osha and Mae, twin warriors in training on opposite sides of the Force. The actor responded to the “bigotry and hateful language” she and her co-stars received when the show aired before being axed after just one season.
“I’m gonna be transparent and say it’s not a huge shock for me,” Stenberg said. “For those who aren’t aware, there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was announced. … We started experiencing a rampage of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language towards us.”
“This really affected me when I first got the job because, even though I anticipated it happening, it’s not something you can fully understand what it feels like until it happens to you,” Stenberg said in videos shared to her Instagram Story.
The actor — who uses both female and gender-neutral pronouns — felt it was important to address the backlash and honor their own “ethics and belief system” by doing so.
“It became inarguable for me at a certain point that, in order to continue to be myself, I would have to honor my value system by being vocal, even within the context of working for Disney and working within the large, massive IP that is Star Wars. … For me, it became a situation where there was no option but for me to honor my sense of ethics and belief system,” Stenberg said.
The Hate U Give actor took the time to thank those who had supported the show, admitting they had made it a “worthwhile experience.”
“It has been an incredible honor and dream for me to be in this universe,” Stenberg said.
“Of course, I’m very sad about the show being canceled,” they continued. “I just want to let those people know out there who supported us in that way and supported us vocally — despite and in the face of all of the vitriol that we received and the kind of the targeted attack, I would say, we received by the alt-right — just that you were deeply loved and appreciated. And it made this job all the worthwhile for me.”
