UPDATE 5/31, 9:29 p.m. ET: Ewan McGregor, who plays Obi-Wan Kenobi, has released a video in which he condemns the racist bullying Moses Ingram has been subjected to.
“It seems that some of this fan base… have decided to attack Moses Ingram online and send her the most horrendous, racist DMs and I heard some of them this morning and it just broke my heart,” he said. “Moses is a brilliant actor, she’s a brilliant woman, and she’s absolutely amazing in this series.”
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Obi-Wan Kenobi star Moses Ingram has spoken out about the “hundreds” of racist messages she’s received following the Star Wars series’ launch mere days ago.
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In a series of Instagram Stories updates on Monday, Ingram shared screenshots showing some of the online abuse she’s received, including one instance of someone saying her “days are numbered.” In a follow-up clip shared to IG, the Queen’s Gambit alum addressed the content of these messages and offered thanks to those who have given her public support.
“Long story short, there are hundreds of those, hundreds,” said Ingram, who plays Reva Sevander—a Jedi-hunting Inquisitor—in the latest Star Wars series. “And I also see those of you out there who put on the cape for me and that really does mean the world to me. Because there’s nothing anybody can do about this. There’s nothing anybody can do to stop this hate.”
Adding that she questioned the “purpose” of publicly addressing this harassment, Ingram pointed to an initial feeling she had of being expected to “shut up and take it” instead. “I’m not built like that,” Ingram said.
She then reiterated her thanks for those who’ve offered their support before signing off with a message for the individuals behind the racist harassment. “To the rest of y’all, y’all weird,” she said.
Shortly after, the official Star Wars accounts on Twitter and Instagram shared public messages of support for Ingram.
“There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist,” a follow-up tweet read.
Amid coverage of the statement, several fans pointed out how this exact approach could have also been helpful in past instances of targeted harassment, including against other Star Wars names like John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran.
Speaking with William Goodman for Complex last week, Ingram said it was still “really hard to wrap my brain around” the fact that she had joined the ever-expanding Star Wars universe following critically acclaimed turns in The Queen’s Gambit as well as The Tragedy of Macbeth.
“It’s wild because those projects that you said, when doing them, I think I thought to myself, ‘Well, it can’t get any bigger than this, can it?’” Ingram said. “Then Star Wars comes and drops the mic and is like, ‘Yeah, it can get bigger. This is the biggest that it gets.’”