Obi-Wan Kenobi star O'Shea Jackson Jr. has an ominous warning for racist Star Wars fans.
Jackson -- the son of rap icon Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson Sr.), who he played in the 2015 biopic Straight Outta Compton -- took to Twitter to repost the news about the official Star Wars Twitter account defending Obi-Wan Kenobi's Moses Ingram. Ingram, who plays Reva in the Star Wars series, received racist comments and death threats in the time since the first two episodes dropped. While Jackson's undisclosed character has yet to appear in the series, he defended Ingram while warning racist fans about what is to come when he does appear. "Probably kills them that James Earl Jones is Darth Vader," Jackson wrote. "They are gonna loooooove finding out what my character does."
Racial harassment towards Star Wars franchise stars is nothing new. Following the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017, Kellie Marie Tran, who appeared as Rose Tico, was harassed on social media over her race, appearance and performance in the film. The attacks caused Tran to have serious mental health issues and forced her to leave her social media account. Previously, John Boyega, who played Finn in the sequel trilogy, had been the target of racist comments when the first trailer for 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released.
Ingram was aware that she might be the recipient of similar attacks, as Lucasfilm warned her about racist fans after she was cast in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Speaking to The Independent, Ingram said, "It was something that Lucasfilm actually got in front of, and said, 'This is a thing that, unfortunately, likely will happen. But we are here to help you; you can let us know when it happens.'" Since the series first aired on Disney+, Ingram took screenshots of the racist messaged she received and posted them on her Instagram stories. "There's nothing anybody can do about this," Ingram said. "There's nothing anybody can do to stop this hate. I question my purpose in even being here in front of you, saying that this is happening. I don't really know."
The outpouring of support for Ingram has ranged from the official Star Wars Twitter account to series star Ewan McGregor, who went as far as sharing a video message defending Ingram while thanking the fans for supporting the show. "She brings so much to the series, she brings so much to the franchise, and it just sickened me to my stomach to hear that this had been happening," said MacGregor. "I just want to say as the leading actor in the series, as the executive producer on the series, that we stand with Moses, we love Moses, and if you're sending her bullying messages, you're no Star Wars fan in my mind. There's no place for racism in this world."
The first three episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi are currently streaming on Disney+.
Source: Twitter
