‘Star Wars’ Actor Amandla Stenberg Expected Show’s Cancellation Amid Fan Hate

The Acolyte star Amandla Stenberg (who uses she/they pronouns) revealed that she’s “not surprised” the Disney+ Star Wars series was canceled after one season, considering the “vitriol, prejudice, hatred and fateful language” she, the cast, and the creators received from internet trolls from the very beginning.

If you didn’t know, Amandla had two roles in The Acolyte, as the twins Osha and Mae, who were conflicted by the two sides of The Force.

Even though the show left things on a cliffhanger in the Season 1 finale, it was canceled and will not get a Season 2.

The Acolyte came from the showrunner and Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland and was set 100 years before Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Notably, the series also featured characters portrayed by Manny Jacinto, Lee Jung-Jae, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Charlie Barnett, and Carrie-Anne Moss, establishing one of the most diverse casts in the franchise’s history.

In a lengthy series of Instagram Stories on Wednesday, Amandla spoke about her experience with the worst parts of the Star Wars fandom, whose negative interactions and vitriol pushed her to speak out. “I hate doing this, but I’m going to do it,” she said. “There are many folks I want to acknowledge and show love and appreciation for, so that’s why I’m hopping on here to talk about this.”

“I’m going to be really transparent and say that it’s not a huge shock for me,” Amandla said regarding the cancellation. “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. No one had even seen it.”

“That’s when we started experiencing a rampage of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language toward 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.”

Other Star Wars actors, including Ahmed Best, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, and Moses Ingram, have experienced racist trolls and harassment for their involvement in the franchise, so it’s anything but an isolated incident.

“I feel like I’ve moved through those feelings in various ways including being vocal about it, myself,” Amandla said. “For me, it just became a situation where there was no option but for me to honor my sense of ethics, and my belief system, and my value system while being in this very unique position.”

Amandla addressed the “hyper-divisive” environment that fueled the backlash against The Acolyte while acknowledging her gratitude for being part of the project. “It just became inarguable for me, at a certain point, that in order to continue to be myself, I would have to honor my value system by being vocal even in the context of working for Disney and working within the large, massive IP that is Star Wars.”

“It has been an incredible honor and dream for me to be in this universe,” Amandla added. “Of course, I’m very sad about the show being canceled.”

“I still feel a lot of levity and joy around the fact that I got to experience it, and that people loved it, and that people were so responsive. I poured through a lot of different iterations of fan art and ship art and fan theories that were just so beautiful and filled my heart with joy,” Amandla said, “And I just want to let those people out there who supported us in that way, and supported us vocally despite, and in the face of all the vitriol we received… targeted attack by the alt-right, just that you were deeply loved and appreciated.”

“Everybody that I worked with in Lucasfilm, particularly Rainn Roberts, my producer, had such a vision and hope, and such a mission for what we were going to continue bringing into this sci-fi universe… it was a really beautiful, energizing, life-changing experience to be a part of.”

Amandla then spoke about the show’s creator Leslye Headland, saying, “I just love that… I think she’s so incredibly talented, and unique, and kind. I’ll love this forever. I’ll love this experience with her forever.”

Amandla continued to thank all the positive responses from fans and people who watched the show, concluding with a challenge for everyone in the Star Wars fandom and beyond.

“It’s not lost on me how the way these events have unfolded. It’s due to the hyper-divisiveness of the time that we live in that is driven by echo chambers of thought and algorithms that reinforce our biases. And I think that applies to everybody. I think that in a particular sect of people, it manifests as fear of what is changing and a lot of hatred for anything this other.”

“I would challenge us all and challenge myself to continue questioning what it is I digest and think critically about what shapes it.”

Watch Amandla’s entire response here.