Acolyte's Amandla Stenberg 'not shocked' show was axed after 'vitriol' from Star Wars fans

Amandla Stenberg, who plays twin sisters Osha and Mae in The Acolyte, has spoken out about the cancellation of the Disney Plus series. After Lucasfilm opted not to proceed with a second season of the Star Wars spin-off show, the actress admitted she “was not shocked”.

Amandla has since opened up about what she has described as a “rampage of vitriol” from fans of the Star Wars franchise, who are notoriously outspoken online. After it was announced that the show would be axed before getting a second season earlier this month, the actress addressed the situation on her Instagram story.

On Wednesday, she told her 2.3 million followers: “There are many folks out there that I want to acknowledge and I want to show appreciation and love and support for, so that’s why I’m hopping on here to talk about this, which is that our Star Wars show has been cancelled.

“And I’m gonna be transparent and say that it’s not a huge shock for me,” she added. “Of course, I live in the bubble of my own reality, but for those who aren’t aware, 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.”

She went on to condemn what she called attacks of “hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language” directed at the show’s cast. Other actors to appear in the series include Lee Jung-jae, Charlie Barnett, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jodie Turner-Smith, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen and Rebecca Henderson.

Amandla went on: “This really affected me when I first got the job. Even though I anticipated it happening, it’s not something you can fully understand what it feels like until it’s happening to you.

“However, I feel like I’ve kinda moved through those feelings in various ways, including being vocal about it myself.

“For me, it just became a situation where there was no option but for me to honour my sense of ethics and my belief system and my value system while being in this very unique position.”

Amandla even released a song, entitled Discourse, back in June in response to the “intolerable racism” she had received on social media.

On a more positive note, she added: “[I had to] honour my value system by being vocal, even within the context of working for Disney and working within the large, massive IP that is Star Wars.

“On that topic, I just have to say it has been an incredible honour and dream for me to be in this universe.

“Even though, of course, I’m very sad about the show being cancelled, and I’m sad about us not being able to give people invested in it more, I still just feel a lot of levity and joy around the fact that I got to experience it and that people loved it and that people were so responsive.”

The synopsis for The Acolyte reads: “An investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past.

“As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems…”

The Acolyte is available to stream now on Disney Plus.