Star Wars actor John Boyega, who played Finn in the sequel trilogy, has shown support for The Acolyte’s Amandla Stenberg in light of the racism Stenberg has been subjected to following The Acolyte’s cancelation. The Acolyte was recently confirmed not to be returning for a second season, which has come on the heels of months of backlash towards The Acolyte and vitriol targeted at the show and its cast. However, The Acolyte is far from the first of Star Wars’ movies and TV shows to receive this type of response, which is precisely why Boyega’s support is so significant.

A post by Amandla Stenberg on Instagram discussing her time on The Acolyte has become flooded with negative comments following the news that The Acolyte will not have a season 2. In addition to the many messages of support on the post combating the negativity, John Boyega shared a meme of Harrison Ford as Han Solo saluting in the original trilogy.

John Boyega in Amandla’s comments. This franchise did them both so nasty pic.twitter.com/TnJeZeouL7 — c (@baeduans) August 21, 2024

Notably, the other actors of The Acolyte do not seem to be receiving the same treatment that Amandla Stenberg is; Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, and Rebecca Henderson all have recent Instagram posts that do not have a similar number or degree of negative comments compared to Stenberg’s.

The Acolyte’s “Haters” Are Showing The Dark Side Of Star Wars Fandom

Sadly, The Acolyte is nowhere near the first of Star Wars’ movies and shows to receive such animosity. This behavior began long ago, with the Star Wars prequel trilogy. As is well-known now, both Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best and young Anakin Skywalker actor Jake Lloyd were bullied viciously by the media and viewers alike. In fact, it’s worth mentioning that Best also ‘liked’ Amandla Stenberg’s post on Instagram. Following that trilogy, the hatred ramped up with the sequel trilogy, much of it targeted at John Boyega and Daisy Ridley.

Other Star Wars newcomers, such as Moses Ingram, who played the Imperial Inquisitor Reva in Obi-Wan Kenobi, have also been subjected to this treatment. In Ingram’s case, Ewan McGregor himself even took to social media to highlight how disturbing he found the racist messages being sent to Ingram.

A personal message from Ewan McGregor. pic.twitter.com/rJSDmj663K — Star Wars (@starwars) June 1, 2022

Unfortunately, this is clearly becoming much more than a pattern in the franchise; it is becoming the norm.

Not only is this terrible for the actors and the creators of these movies and shows, it is also simply bad for the franchise. Tearing down any new piece of media and the people who have worked on it does nothing to serve the future of the franchise. Clearly, this type of bullying and harassment can lead to cancelations. Ultimately, it’s unclear why that would be an objective of anyone who is truly a fan of the franchise. Presumably, anyone who loves Star Wars should want to see the franchise succeed, not fail.

Moreover, it’s impossible to ignore who is often at the center of the backlash. It isn’t coincidental that Best, Boyega, and Stenberg are finding common ground in their experience of the Star Wars fanbase. Hopefully, as Star Wars moves forward, changes will be made that protect the franchise’s actors, although what that protection could look like remains to be seen. For now, though, it’s nice to see previous Star Wars actors stepping up in defense of The Acolyte’s Amandla Stenberg.