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

"We started experiencing a rampage of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred and hateful language towards us," Stenberg said

Amandla Stenberg is sharing her honest reaction to The Acolyte’s cancellation.

In a series of Instagram Stories, the actress, 25, opened up about the Disney+ series coming to an end after just one season. Stenberg explained that although she is sad the show won’t be returning, she isn’t surprised.

“I’m going to be transparent and say it’s not a huge shock for me,” she admitted. “There has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced, when it was still just a concept and 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 towards us.”

Related: The Acolyte's Amandla Stenberg Shares the 1 Thing That Surprised Her While Working on the Star Wars Series (Exclusive)

Immediately after its release, The Acolyte faced backlash for its diverse casting of women leads and people of color. Acknowledging that from the beginning, she felt hate from certain areas of the Star Wars universe fanbase, Stenberg said she wanted to continue to speak out.

“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,” she said. “However, I feel like I’ve kind of moved through those feelings in various ways, including being vocal about it myself.”

She continued: “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.”

Related: How to Watch Every Star Wars Movie and Series in Chronological Order

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

“Of course, I’m very sad about the show being canceled,” Stenberg emphasized. “I just want to let those people know out there who supported us in that way, and supported us vocally — despite and in the face of all of the vitriol that we received and the kind of the targeted attack, I would say, we received by the alt-right — just that you were deeply loved and appreciated. And it made this job all the worthwhile for me.”

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Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, told The New York Times in May that she was proud of the series, noting that  "storytelling does need to be representative of all people." She revealed that writer and director Leslye Headland struggled with backlash, especially as the first woman to create a television series for a Star Wars spinoff.

“I think a lot of the women who step into Star Wars struggle with this a bit more," Kennedy told the outlet. "Because of the fan base being so male-dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal.”

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