Amandla Stenberg claims The Acolyte was canceled because of bigotry
In a now-unavailable Instagram Story, actor Amandla Stenberg spoke out retainer's Cancelled on Disney+. Stenberg plays twin protagonists May and Osha, who are pulled to opposite sides of the Force and separated at the age of eight. Star Wars Prequel, retainer The film follows the girls as they confront their past and grapple with Jedi and Sith ideologies. retainer It was poorly received by fans and generally panned by critics. Showrunner Leslye Headland was isolated Star Wars Fans said this even before the show aired retainer Wouldn't be kind to a Jediwill be the most cheerful Star Wars Sometimesand talking about yourself Sympathy for the SithStenberg had this to say about the show's unexpected ending (via) Diversity,
“I'll be very clear that this is no big shock to me. We've been getting a lot of vitriol since the show was announced, when it was just a concept and no one had even seen it. That's when we started seeing an outpouring of ultra-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred and hate speech directed toward us.”
“It hit me hard when I first got the job. Because it's not something that — even though I anticipated it happening — it's not something that you can fully understand until it happens to you. However, I think I've gone through those feelings in a variety of ways, including being vocal about it myself. … It became undeniable to me at a certain point, that in order to continue being myself, I had to honor my value system by being vocal, even in the context of working for Disney.”
“It's been an incredible honor and dream for me to be in this universe. Of course, I'm very sad about the show's cancellation. … I just want to tell the people who supported us in this way, and supported us vocally — despite all the vitriol that we got and the kind of targeted attack, I would say, that we got from the right wing — just that you are so loved and appreciated. And that made this job worthwhile for me.”
There's a lot to talk about here, but I'll start with the hateful vitriol. People are very angry retainer From the beginning; I agree with that. And to be honest, for a long time I thought it was unfair. I really thought that retainer Nice, a really cool new concept to tackle Star Wars universe. Finally, a new time period with new characters. Well, somewhat. However, the people behind retainer The show was poking the bear long before it came out. I have no problem with Stenberg as a person or an actor, but my problem is with Headland and the show. I don't know how involved Headland was in Harvey Weinstein's bad behavior, but hiring her was a weird move. Regardless of what she did or didn't do, the scenes aren't good. And I'm surprised Disney chose someone who would challenge their wholesome image, especially when that person is critical Star WarsGeorge Lucas and the J.D. I hold no ill will towards the actors or most of the crew retainerBut it's a bad showAnd I think it was made with bad intentions. But at the end of the day, Disney and Lucasfilm canceled the show because the numbers were so bad. There wasn't a financial benefit, so they wouldn't continue such an expensive series.
But what do you think? Is Amandla Stenberg right? retainer Is this just nonsense or is the truth somewhere in between? Let us know in the comments!
