The cast of Lord of the Rings is standing behind the diversity in their new spinoff series, The Rings of Power, after racist fans of the show spread hate about the cast’s diversity.
On Wednesday, cast members Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd shared a photo of themselves posing with a t-shirt that read “You All Are Welcome Here” in Elvish. (They echoed the shirt’s wording in English in the caption.)
The shirt — sold by “obscure Lord of the Rings facts guy” Don Marshall — featured creature ears of different skin tones (and shapes), depicting the diversity of the new show.
“Thank you so much! I am beyond words,” Marshall wrote on Instagram. “This is incredible.”
With each sale, 50 percent of proceeds will reportedly go to a charity that supports people of color.
The new series premiered on Amazon last week with 25 million viewers. The show, however, received backlash from racist fans angry with the character casting of actors of color. They claim their skin tones do not align with the original writing of J.R.R. Tolkien.
“Are you telling me Black people can’t be fake people too? Is that what you’re telling me?” Whoopi Goldberg said on The View about the racism surrounding the show on Tuesday. “I don’t know if there’s like a hobbit club. I don’t know if there are gonna be protests, but people! What is wrong with y’all?”
The series’ fantasy competition House of the Dragon on HBO has also received similar pushback from racist audience members.
Other high-profile TV shows and films have cast actors of color in roles originally portrayed by white people, including Halle Bailey as The Little Mermaid in Disney’s upcoming live-action, Kelly Marie Tran in The Last Jedi, and Moses Ingram in Obi-Wan Kenobi received hate for being actors of color in a formerly white fantasy show.
“Rings of Power has plenty of wonders to offer at the start. Now we’ll have to see if the show can keep them coming, and if viewers are as excited for them as [character] Nori is,” read a Rolling Stone review of the new series.