Actress Amandla Stenberg says she is not surprised her Star Wars spin-off show is being axed after one series following the “prejudiced hatred and hateful language” directed at the cast.
Stenberg played the main roles of twin sisters Verosha “Osha” and Mae-ho “Mae” Aniseya in The Acolyte, which is set around a century before the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
The 2024 Disney+ show was well received by most critics, but there was a negative audience response online aimed at the casting, and female-centric Jedi storyline with The Hunger Games actress Stenberg as the main star.
Appearing in an Instagram story video on her account, Stenberg said: “There are many folks out there that I want to acknowledge and I want to show appreciation and love and support for, so that’s why I’m hopping on here to talk about this, which is that our… Star Wars show has been cancelled.
“And I’m (going to) be transparent and say that 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.
“And that’s when we started experiencing a rampage of hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language towards us.
“And this really affected me when I first got the job… even though I anticipated it happening, it’s not something you can fully understand what it feels like until it’s happening to you.
“However, I feel like I’ve (kind of) moved through those feelings in various ways, including being vocal about it myself.
“For me, it just became a situation where there was no option but for me to honour my sense of ethics and my belief system and my value system while being in this very unique position.”
The Acolyte has not been renewed for a second season, and was created by Leslye Headland, also behind hit Netflix series Russian Doll, and features The Good Place star Manny Jacinto and South Korean Squid Game actor Lee Jung-jae.
Stenberg also said the world is “very divisive” right now and vowed to “honour 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”.
She added: “On that topic, I just have to say it has been an incredible honour and dream for me to be in this universe.
“Even though, of course I’m very sad about the show being cancelled, and I’m sad about us not being able to give people invested in it more, I still just feel a lot of levity and joy around the fact that I got to experience it and that people loved it and that people were so responsive.”
Disney has been contacted for comment.
