“Star Wars: The Acolyte” star Jodie Turner-Smith is calling out Disney for not defending Amandla Stenberg against racism.

Jodie Turner-Smith Speaks Out After ‘The Acolyte’

Turner-Smith portrayed Mother Aniseya in the Disney+ series “The Acolyte,” while Stenberg starred as Aniseya’s grown twin daughters, Osha and Mae. In a Glamour UK interview, Turner-Smith explained that Stenberg wrote an essay about the characters, their motivations, and their inner lives.

“I’ve never worked with anybody who’s handed me an essay on their character,” Turner-Smith said. “She put so much care and thought and love into that, and it’s disappointing to feel like your studio is not having your back in a very public-facing way.”

Turner-Smith said Disney has “got to stop doing this thing where they don’t say anything” when their cast and crew face online bullying, specifically racism. “It’s just no fair to not say anything,” she said. “It’s really unfair.”

Turner-Smith continued, “It would just be nice if the people that have all the money were showing their support and putting their feet down. 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 color, 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.”

Turner-Smith expressed hope that things will change, saying “Opinions change” and she believes the world will someday get to a point where people will stop caring about people of color being in franchises created by white people.”

Before Disney canceled “The Acolyte,” Stenberg released a song on Instagram about the “intolerable racism” they faced, singing, “They spinning WOKE, bastardize it and appropriate it. 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 later said on an Instagram story that they had faced a “rampage of vitriol” since the show was announced, describing the attacks as “hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language.” (via Deadline)

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

She continued, “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 honor my sense of ethics and my belief system and my value system while being in this very unique position.”

“The Acolyte” aired for one eight-episode season in June and July 2024. Its diverse cast also included Lee Jung-jae, Charlie Barnett, Dafne Keen, Rebecca Henderson, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Manny Jacinto. It looked at how the Jedi operated during the High Republic era, a century before any other “Star Wars” films or TV shows.

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