THE ACOLYTE Star Jodie Turner-Smith Puts Disney On Blast For Failing To Defend Cast From Racist Backlash

THE ACOLYTE Star Jodie Turner-Smith Puts Disney On Blast For Failing To Defend Cast From Racist Backlash

Jodie Turner-Smith, who played Mother Aniseya in The Acolyte, has called out Disney for failing to come to the show's cast's defence when they were targetted for racist backlash...

By MarkCassidy - Oct 06, 2024 06:10 PM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars

Back in August, we got word that Lucasfilm/Disney would not be moving forward with a second season of The Acolyte despite several major storylines and character arcs being left unresolved by the end of the season 1 finale.

The decision was met with a mixture of indifference and disappointment, but it's very clear that a lot of Star Wars fans - and some of the actors involved with the show - were surprised by this development.

Showrunner Leslye Headland was hoping to be able to continue her High Republic era-set tale, and rumor has it that the studio was planning a second season up until fairly recently.

The "official" reason for the show's cancellation was low/declining viewership, but many feel the intense backlash from a vocal minority may have factored into the decision. We may never know if this was the case, but we do know that several cast members were targetted for racist, misogynistic and homophobic abuse, with no response from the studio.

Now, star Jodie Turner-Smith (Mother Aniseya) has put Disney on blast for not speaking out.

“They’ve got to stop doing this thing where they don’t say anything when people are getting [frick]ing dog-piled on the internet with racism and bullshit,” the actress tells Glamour Magazine. “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 were showing their support and putting their feet down," she continued. "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. They might find that it’s actually more lucrative for them, but everyone’s using ‘woke’ like it’s a dirty word.”

In The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.

 The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.

Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.

Headland also directed the premiere episodes (Eps. 101 & 102). Directors Kogonada (Eps. 103 & 107), Alex Garcia Lopez (Eps. 104 & 105) and Hanelle Culpepper (Eps. 106 & 108) round out the directing duties on the series.

"I really wanted to tell a story about the Sith," Headland told EW in a recent interview. "That was kind of my dream Star Wars idea. But it felt like the time period to do that in would be something pre-Phantom Menace. That seemed to be the most interesting trajectory for the Sith: How did the Sith go from the Rule of Two and being quote-unquote 'extinct' to Palpatine coming into power without the Jedi knowing about it?"

Award-winning composer Michael Abels, known for his work on Get Out and Us, scored The Acolyte.

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Forthas
Forthas - 10/7/2024, 9:16 AM
That can cut both ways. You always want to defend the talent when these morons are attacking them but at the same time their strategy could be to ignore them, otherwise the racists will think they are more effective than they actually are. It is hard to deal with lunatics because they lack the ability to comprehend and therefore respond to facts or logic.
MG0019
MG0019 - 10/7/2024, 10:02 AM
What are the realistic expectations here? The company has Always defended against racist trolls; to the point that it’s a meme: “Disney can’t take criticism and so scapegoats the racist trolls on their latest flop.”

Was this actor expecting the company to hire lawyers to go after online trolls? Hire men with guns? Pull a Jay & Silent Bob revenge spree?

Further, the entire creative team & cast have said themselves a driving force in making this series was to intentionally anger those trolls. So you can’t stir the pot, intentionally burn the stew, then blame your landlord for providing a kitchen.

It’s addiction to victimhood.
Blastaar
Blastaar - 10/8/2024, 10:45 AM
I think Jodie Turner-Smith is absolutely beautiful, however, that's rich coming from her, which she admitted to engaging in "slave play" with her as a slave, and other "racial self hating" activities and things she has said.
mathieu
mathieu - 10/9/2024, 5:20 AM
Jodie Turner Smith needs to shut her mouth. Entitlement isn’t a good look. Neither is rank ignorance. If a production puts out a bad product, it gets criticized heavily. Especially from a devoted fandom. You work in entertainment, Jodie. If the audience isn’t entertained, or they don’t like what you put out. They’re going to tell you. It may be severely derogatory. But if they are paying to see it. Then they have every right to do so. Make no mistake, The Acolyte was pure garbage of the hottest flaming dumpsters. With each episode the ratings tanked further and further in a parachute-less race to the ground. The YouTube reviews of how bad the episodes were, was more entertaining than the series itself. Calling fans racist in an attempt to gaslight them because you can’t handle criticism like an adult is beyond pathetic. It’s also a great way to desensitize the public to the impact that actual racism has. If Jodie should be mad at anyone it should be at Leslye Headland and her team of vapid writers for contriving such a cosmic level disaster of a show.

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