‘The Acolyte’ Star Jodie Turner-Smith Wants Disney to Denounce Racist Backlash More Vocally: Woke Isn’t a ‘Dirty Word’
“The Acolyte” alum Jodie Turner-Smith is calling out “Star Wars” parent company Disney for not thwarting racist backlash to the franchise’s actors.
Turner-Smith appeared in the short-lived Disney+ series that also starred Amandla Stenberg, Manny Jacinto, Carrie-Ann Moss, and Lee Jung-jae. The show was cancelled after one season, with lead star Stenberg revealing that the whole cast endured “hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language” on social media.
More from IndieWire
Turner-Smith now told Glamour UK that Disney should have stepped in.
“They’ve got to stop doing this thing where they don’t say anything when people are getting fucking dog-piled on the internet with racism and bullshit,” Tuner-Smith said. “It’s just not fair to not say anything. It’s really unfair.”
She added, “It’s disappointing to feel like your studio is not having your back in a very public-facing way.”
“The Acolyte” certainly isn’t the first “Star Wars” installment to receive racist backlash. Franchise alums John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran publicly endured online hate and harassment. Turner-Smith explained why she believes it shouldn’t take years for Disney to do something about it.
“It would just be nice if the people that have all the money were showing their support and putting their feet down,” Turner-Smith said. “Say this is unacceptable: ‘You’re not a fan if you do this.’ Make a really big statement and just see if any money leaves. I bet you it won’t, because people of color, and especially Black people, make up a very large percentage of buying power. They might find that it’s actually more lucrative for them, but everyone’s using ‘woke’ like it’s a dirty word.”
She continued, “We’re going to get there at some point, to that place where people stop having a stick up their [ass] about people of color being a part of IPs that were created by white people. You know why? Because we’re never going to fucking stop participating.”
Turner-Smith’s co-star Stenberg shared on social media that the racism from fans “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. […] 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.”
Franchise predecessor Boyega, who starred in starred in three “Star Wars” concluding with “The Rise of Skywalker,” previously said in 2020 that Disney should “not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are, and then have them pushed to the side.”
Best of IndieWire
Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
