“Star Wars needs to protect their actors”: Fans support Amandla Stenberg after she talks about The Acolyte being canceled

Star Wars fans were shocked to learn earlier this month that The Acolyte had been canceled at Lucasfilm and won't be returning for a second season on Disney+. The news which was originally reported by Deadline on August 19, 2024, mentioned that while the Disney+ show had a strong start with its viewership, it wasn't able to maintain them in the following weeks, ultimately leading to its cancellation.

Following the cancellation of The Acolyte, fans were disappointed to learn that the setups at the end of season 1 won't be moving forward. With it also being the first show to be set in the High Republic Era, many were hoping to see where the show would go in the future.

Now, actress Amandla Stenberg who portrayed Osha and Mae in the show took to her socials to break her silence on the cancellation of the show.

“I’m going to be transparent and say it’s not a huge shock for me. There has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced, when it was still just a concept and no one had even seen it. That’s when we started experiencing a rampage of, I would say, hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred and hateful language towards us," said the star via her Instagram story.

While The Acolyte did receive praise from critics, a certain section of the Star Wars fandom review bombed the show with Stenberg receiving harassment from there during release as well. Following Stenberg's response, many fans came to her support.

Many Star Wars actors in the past such as Jake Lloyd, Hayden Christensen, Kelly Marie Tran, John Boyega, Daisey Ridley, and more were subjected to harassment as well. One fan on X stated that Lucasfilm must do better to protect its actors:

"star wars needs to protect their actors."

"first john boyega, daisy ridley, and kelly-marie tran, then moses ingram, and now amandla stenberg. all of this harassment has occurred within the past ten years. it’s truly abhorrent. lucasfilm needs to do more (and better) when it comes to protecting its leads," said another fan.

"A lot of what Stenberg says here is spot on and just depressing. It is also frustrating/heartbreaking that they had to make a video like that and Lucasfilm has done nothing to protect their stars from the worst segment of its fanbase," noted another fan.

Other fans also drew notice of how the show was already receiving hate even before it hit the screens.

"People act like The Acolyte wasn’t being attacked since the moment the show was announced. Before any information even came out about it people already ripped it apart," said a fan.

"Star Wars "fans" don't deserve the incredible actors they get man," opined another fan.

Other fans also just came to Stenberg's defense to give her flowers.

"Seems like a really cool person who’s clearly trying to show her appreciation for being able to do something really cool while also smiling through the pain of the cancellation. I feel so f*****g bad for her and everyone involved with the show. What a f*****g disgrace man," said one fan.

"We love you, Amandla! #RenewTheAcolyte #SaveTheAcolyte," chimed another fan.

---

Lee Jung-jae opens up about The Acolyte's cancellation too

Previously, Manny Jacinto, who played Qimir in The Acolyte reacted to its cancellation by posting a still of him and Osha from the show and captioned it with a heart.

Following that, Lee Jung-jae, who portrayed Master Sol in the show, also reacted to the news in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"But personally speaking, I really loved Leslye’s writing. I thought that she was a great writer and director who was very talented in the storytelling, as well as creating characters and creating meaningful structures within the story. So I was actually personally really looking forward to watching a season 2 with her at the helm," said Jung-jae.

The Acolyte focuses on the Jedi operating in the High Republic era. The series sees Master Sol leading an investigation after a few Jedi are mysteriously murdered, however, he finds something darker rising in the shadows.

---

You can check out the first season of the show streaming right now on Disney+.