Amandla Stenberg Says The Acolyte's Cancellation Was 'Not a Huge Shock' After Star Wars Fandom's 'Hatred' and 'Prejudice'

Amandla Stenberg shares her honest reaction to Acolytecancellation.

In a series of Instagram Stories, the 25-year-old actress talked about the Disney+ series, which is coming to an end after just one season. Stenberg explained that while she’s sad that the series won’t be returning, she’s not surprised.

“I’ll be transparent and say that it’s not a big shock for me,” she admitted. “There’s been an outpouring of vitriol that we’ve faced since the show was even announced, when it was still just a concept and no one had even seen it. Then we started to experience an onslaught of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred and hate speech towards us.”

AcolyteAmandla Stenberg of Amandla says one thing that surprised her while working on Star Wars series (exclusive)

Immediately after exiting, Acolyte faced backlash for its diverse cast of female leads and people of color. Admitting that from the beginning she felt hatred from certain quarters Star Wars A cosmic fan base, Stenberg said she wants to keep speaking.

“This really affected me when I first got the job, because it’s just not something — even though I expected it to happen — it’s not something you can fully understand how it feels until it happens to you,” she said. “However, I feel like I’ve kind of moved through those feelings in a variety of ways, including being vocal about it myself.”

Amandla Stenberg.

Lucasfilm doo

She continued, “It just became clear to 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.”

How to watch each Star Wars Movies and series in chronological order

Despite the online attacks, Stenberg said she was grateful to be able to play a role in the short-lived series, adding that it was an “incredible honor” and always “a dream to be in this universe.”

“Of course, I’m very sad about the cancellation of the show,” Stenberg emphasized. “I just want to let those people out there who have supported us in that way, and supported us vocally — despite and in the face of all the vitriol that we’ve received and the kind of targeted attack, I would say, that we’ve received from the alt-right — just to You were deeply loved and respected, and that’s why this job was worth it.”

Amandla Stenberg.

Mike Marsland/WireImage

Never miss a story — subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said The New York Times in May that she was proud of the series, noting that “the storytelling has to be representative of all people.” She revealed that writer-director Leslye Headland struggled with backlash, particularly as the first woman to create a television series for Star Wars spinoff.

“I think that many women who enter the Star Wars fight this a little bit longer,” Kennedy told the newspaper. “Because of the male-dominated fan base, sometimes they get attacked in ways that can be quite personal.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education