Disney and Star Wars are standing by one of the stars of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” after racist messages from viewers were shared on her social media.
“We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist,” read a post on the official Star Wars Twitter handle.
Black actress Moses Ingram plays Reva Sevander, one of the antagonists in the new Disney+ series. Sevander is an Inquistor in the Star Wars universe, which is an “enforcer recruited by the Empire and directed by Darth Vader to hunt down and kill all remaining Jedi,” according to an “Obi-Wan Kenobi” production brief.
In an Instagram story, Ingram shared several screenshots of messages sent to her since the series premiered on May 27.
“You’re a diversity hire and you won’t be loved or remembered for this acting role,” wrote one viewer.
Another showed an image that said, “OPERATION GET BEHIND THE D*RKIES IS REAL.”
Ingram addressed the attacks in a video, saying “Long story short, there are hundreds of those, hundreds,” in reference to the messages.
She continued, “There’s nothing anybody can do to stop this hate. So I question what my purpose is in even being here in front of you saying that this is happening.”
The official Star Wars Twitter and Instagram accounts posted messages of support shortly after Ingram posted the video: “There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.”
The Twitter post has already received more than 56,000 likes and 10,000 retweets.