In a bold move that could be a Hollywood first, a TV star has released a song – complete with a music video – in response to racist and bigoted backlash against their show.
Disney+’s The Acolyte star Amandla Stenberg, who uses she/they pronouns, released a track criticizing racist “Star Wars” fans after enduring a barrage of racist vitriol over the series.
Stenberg, who portrays a pair of Force-sensitive twins, Osha and Mae, in the set 100 years before the Star Wars prequels, has been a frequent target of online abuse for her race – she is a Black woman – elements of the plot some fans have deemed as “woke.”
“Happy Juneteenth and to those who are flooding me with intolerable racism—since it took me 72 hours on my laptop to make this song and video, u got 72 hours to respond. and I expect choreo!!” Stenberg posted on Instagram Wednesday (June 19).
View this post on Instagram
The song opens by referencing a viral clip from a 2018 interview with Trevor Noah where Stenberg discussed her film The Hate U Give, which portrays the aftermath of a Black teenager’s murder by a police officer.
The 25-year-old actress also mentioned that “white people crying actually was the goal” of the movie, a comment that has been twisted by trolls and bad-faith critics to attack them.
“They splice lines, make hate they recognize, make it look like the same propaganda they spew, cuz they conflate our pain with violence and try to weaponize everything that we do,” Sternberg sings.
“The desperation of oppressors is rising, and now they holding onto any ol thing they can use. If you reply on misinformation, then that tells me you afraid of the truth.”
The Bodies Bodies Bodies star also had something to say about the right-wing media that co-opted and turned the term “woke” into a pejorative.
“They spinning WOKE, bastardize it and appropriate it,” she sings. “Last I recall, WOKE was something we created. Speak truth to power. Keep an eye out for you silly racists, and now they use it to describe anything they threatened by.”
Stenberg also references Childish Gambino’s 2016 hit “Redbone,” which popularized the phrase “stay woke.”
“Remember when Gambino put it in the zeitgeist? It was all about the people recognizing bigotry, The power of community, not fodder for your clickbait.”
Later, The Everything Everything star called out the media for fanning the flames of bigoted pundits.
“Journalists, I’m looking at you/ Did you forget it’s your job to provide the truth?” she asks. “Spreading divisiveness mining the metrics and data, seems you gave up all your ethics for money and views.”
View this post on Instagram
Stenberg’s video is historic within the Star Wars franchise, marking the first time an actor has directly addressed the backlash against them as it occurs.
The past few years have seen a rise in online bullying, with the franchise’s actors facing everything from racist attacks to threats of violence.
In 2022, Ewan McGregor condemned the racist messages sent to his Obi-Wan Kenobi series costar, Moses Ingram.
Then, in 2018, The Last Jedi actor Kelly Marie-Tran quit social media after harassment she claimed drove her to therapy.
Despite the hateful comments (her song, “Discourse,” stirred more insulting messages), many fans and supporters have rallied behind Stenberg.
The Acolyte has garnered significant viewership. Variety reports that the series accumulated 380.5 million minutes of watch time between June 7 and June 13, making it one of the most-streamed shows.
