Obi-Wan Kenobi star Ewan McGregor hit back Wednesday at people targeting fellow Star Wars actor Moses Ingram with racist abuse, saying they are not true fans.
Ingram — who stars alongside McGregor in Obi-Wan Kenobi — highlighted racist messages she had received online in a story on her Instagram account, prompting him to respond with a video on the site.
“We stand with Moses. We love Moses. And if you’re sending her bullying messages, you’re no Star Wars fan in my mind,” said McGregor, who plays the title character in the Star Wars series.
“She brings so much to the series, she brings so much to the franchise. And it just sickened me to my stomach that this had been happening,” McGregor added.
The Star Wars Twitter account also took aim at those attacking Ingram, a Black actress who plays a Jedi-hunting Inquisitor in the Disney+ series, available on Disney+ Hotstar in India.
“We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold,” it said in a tweet, that included an image of Ingram with a red lightsaber in hand.
“If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist.”
It is not the first time that racism has been directed against a Star Wars actor of colour.
Vietnamese-American actress Kelly Marie Tran, who made her Star Wars debut in 2017’s The Last Jedi, was hounded off social media by racist and sexist abuse.
Black British actor John Boyega has meanwhile criticised the treatment of non-white characters in the most recent three Star Wars films, saying they were marketed as important elements in the franchise but were ultimately “pushed to the side.”
New episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi air Wednesdays on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar.
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