Star Wars defends actor Moses Ingram against racist Obi-Wan Kenobi viewers

Ingram revealed some of the hateful messages she's received since the series' premiere on Disney Plus

By Mary Kate Carr  |  May 31, 2022 | 7:18pm
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Star Wars defends actor Moses Ingram against racist Obi-Wan Kenobi viewers
Moses Ingram as Reva in Obi-Wan Kenobi Photo: Disney

What, the Star Wars fandom? Racist? Surely we’ve all learned and grown since all those other times the Star Wars fandom was racist?

Alas, no. In depressingly predictable news, Obi-Wan Kenobi is not exempt from the fandom’s typical toxicity. Star Wars newbie Moses Ingram gave followers just a taste of the vile messages she’s been receiving, which include asinine accusations of a “diversity hire,” racial slurs, and even threats. She admitted the screenshots she shared on her Instagram Story were among “hundreds” of similarly hateful messages.

“There’s nothing anybody can do about this. There’s nothing anybody can do to stop this hate,” she said in a video. “And so… I question my purposes in even being here in front of you saying that this is happening. I don’t really know.”

“But I think the thing that bothers me is … this feeling of like, I just gotta shut up and take it, I just kinda gotta grin and bear it. And I’m not built like that,” the actor continued. “So I really just wanted to come on, I think, and say thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments and the places that I’m not going to put myself. And to the rest of y’all, y’all weird.”

Following her Instagram posts, Ingram’s name began trending on Twitter, thankfully due mostly to an influx of support for her and the character of Inquisitor Reva. The official Star Wars account joined the many voices celebrating the star, writing, “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.”

In a follow-up tweet, the official account added, “There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.”

 
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