Lucasfilm
Two things can be (and are) true at once: Star Wars has a legitimate issue when it comes to toxic fandom, and The Acolyte, canceled by Lucasfilm after just one season, was a bad show.
This possibility, however, seems to be getting lost in the debate around the cancellation of The Acolyte, as many Star Wars fans — and even the series’ lead actor — are blaming the toxic sections of the fanbase for the axing of the show, which saw its viewership plummet after just the second episode (I bailed after the third).
In a video posted to social media, The Acolyte series lead Amandla Stenberg ignored any and all self-reflection and instead pinned the cancelation of the series on “hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language.”
While Stenberg is correct about the way certain sections of the Star Wars fanbase — and society at large — have behaved, pinning the cancelation of The Acolyte on bigotry ignores the fact that the franchise has persisted forward with plenty of other projects and characters that have received the same backlash, particularly Daisy Ridley’s character Rey in the sequel trilogy and the upcoming sequel film that’ll feature Rey.
“It’s not a huge shock for me [that it was canceled]. 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,” Stenberg said.
“That’s when we started experiencing a rampage of hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language towards us … 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.”
Stenberg went on to detail how much of an honor featuring in a Star Wars project has been and thanked everyone who supported her along the way.
“It has been an incredible honor and dream for me to be in this universe … And I just want to let those people know out there who supported us in that way, and supported us vocally 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,” she said.
Stenberg closed with praise for series creator Lesyle Headland, who was previously known for her work on the hit Netflix series Russian Doll.
“And I have to thank Lesyle Headland … I just f—— love that b—-… one of the best people in the world … she’s so incredibly talented and unique … I will love this experience with her forever.”
In addition to Stenberg, The Acolyte also starred Lee Jung-jae, Charlie Barnett, Dafne Keen, Rebecca Henderson, Jodie Turner-Smith, Carrie-Anne Moss, Manny Jacinto, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, Margarita Levieva, Lauren Brady, Leah Brady, Harry Trevaldwyn, and David Harewood.
Unlike other canceled Disney+ series, reports indicate that the Mouse House is not planning on deleting the show from the streaming service.