‘The Acolyte’ star Jodie Turner-Smith criticises Disney for not defending cast from racist backlash

nme.com:

The Acolyte star Jodie Turner-Smith has criticised Disney for not defending the show’s stars amid a racist backlash.The Star Wars series, which is set around 100 years before the prequel movies, premiered on Disney+ back in June – though was recently cancelled after one season.However, some of the show’s stars were subjected to racism amid its release, with Amandla Stenberg previously sharing a song in response to abuse she had received.

The star later admitted that the series’ cancellation was “not a huge shock” for her, especially after the cast was targeted with a “rampage of vitriol”.Turner-Smith, who played Mother Aniseya – the leader of the coven of witches that raised Stenberg’s characters Osha and Mae – has claimed that Disney’s silence amid the racist backlash was “unfair”.“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,” she told Glamour. “It’s just not fair to not say anything.

It’s really unfair.“It would just be nice if the people that have all the money [Disney or other studios] were showing their support and putting their feet down.

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 colour, and especially Black people, make up a very large percentage of buying power.