The Acolyte
The Acolyte has been cancelled and will not get a season 2, unless some Disney mind-changing miracle happens. Now, the star of the series who has previously been quiet about the cancellation has spoken out.
That would be Amandla Stenberg, who played twins Osha and Mae on the show, who took to Instagram to film a lengthy story discussing her thoughts, which included long sections about the racism and vitriol she and the other cast members received, even before the show was out:
“It’s not a huge shock for me. Of course, I live in the bubble of my own reality but for those who aren’t aware there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced—when it was still just a concept and no one had even seen it. That’s when we started experiencing a rampage of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language towards us. And you know this really affected me when I first got the job because it’s just not something, even though I anticipated it happening, it’s not something you can fully understand what it feels like until it’s happening to you.”
There are some positives, as Stenberg thanks fans and talks about the aspects of the role she enjoyed:
“I poured through a lot of different iterations of fanart and ship arts and fan theories and things that were so beautiful and filled my heart with joy…You are deeply loved and appreciated and it made this job all the worth while for me.”
An entire industry on YouTube was formed dedicated to tearing The Acolyte apart each week, accusing it of being “woke” or terrible in some form or another. And racial hatred has indeed been thrown the cast’s way as we have seen many, many times with other cast members in Star Wars from John Boyega to Kelly Marie Tran. Most notably, in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Ewan McGregor felt compelled to speak out about the harassment and racism his co-star Moses Ingram was enduring:
“It seems that some of the fan base, from this influential fan base, have decided to attack Moses Ingram online and send her the most horrendous racist DMs, and I heard some of them this morning and it just broke my heart… 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, 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.”
Fans have repeatedly criticized Disney for not doing more to protect its stars from this kind of harassment, and that is the case with The Acolyte where Disney has not commented on this or the cancellation overall. It’s clear members of the cast, not just Stenberg but also Venestra actress Rebecca Henderson, believe that Disney has catered to the toxic part of the fanbase with this decision. Disney, through insider leaks, say it’s purely because the show was not watched enough but again, has done nothing for the duration of the show to speak out on behalf of its cast and what they’ve endured.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.