Star Wars Stands With Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Moses Ingram After Racist Troll Attacks

While the release of Obi-Wan Kenobi and its new roster of characters within the Star Wars universe was for most fans an exciting occasion, the show also supplied a new target for the fandom’s racist and misogynistic trolls: Moses Ingram, who stars as Third Sister Reva Sevander.

At this point, few are surprised by this awful behavior. But fortunately, Ingram has the full support of co-stars, including Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, Ewan McGregor—as well as Star Wars studio Lucasfilm and legions of Star Wars fans of the non-toxic variety. Here’s McGregor’s video, for starters.

While we wait to see more visible action taken, it’s worth noting this marks an improvement over inaction in past years on behalf of cast members like Ahmed Best and Kelly Marie Tran. At the start of the Black Lives Matter movement, Lucasfilm expressed that it was listening to John Boyega, and most recently it took a more prominent stand for The High Republic show host Krystina Arielle by denouncing bullying and racism. As part of the Obi-Wan Kenobi press tour, Moses Ingram was prepped on what to expect—including that the vocal outcry of bigots could turn into another pathetic chorus. “It was something that Lucasfilm actually got in front of, and said, ‘This is a thing that, unfortunately, likely will happen. But we are here to help you; you can let us know when it happens’,” Ingram told the Independent.

Pre-emptive words of support can only do so much, however. Messages to Ingram included death threats and an onslaught of racial slurs against a Black woman in Star Wars, and prompted the actress to address them on her personal social media. “There’s nothing anybody can do about this. There’s nothing anybody can do to stop this hate. The thing that bothers me is this feeling of… like I just gotta shut up and take it,” Ingram shared in an Instagram story, along with screenshots of the messaging. “I just have to grin and bear it. And I’m not built like that. Thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments and in the places that I’m not going to put myself. And to the rest of y’all… y’all weird.”

After her candid and brave honesty, Star Wars responded with a quick social media statement on various platforms.

And today, the star of the series, Ewan McGregor, took the time to address the toxic fandom in a video message, seen earlier in this post. “We stand with Moses, we love Moses,” McGregor affirmed. “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.” Fellow Star Wars cast members Best, Arielle, O’Shea Jackson Jr. (who’ll appear on Obi-Wan Kenobi), and other BIPOC community figures also took to their platforms to support.

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