Amandla Stenberg calls out The Acolyte cancellation for what it is

Star Wars star Amandla Stenberg has spoken out about the cancellation of The Acolyte. Although Disney has not given an official reason for the cancellation, Stenberg responded that she was not surprised, given the amount of hatred the show received from right wing trolls over its diversity.

The Star Wars spinoff—which takes place in the High Republic Era, a century before the advent of the Skywalker family—follows a pair of lightside and darkside twins, both played by Stenberg, who unravel a series of murders. With the more familiar Star Wars canon relegated to the distant future, The Acolyte introduced an entirely new cast, including many actors of color and queer characters in the form of lesbian moms who happen to lead a witch coven.

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Despite receiving Disney+’s highest streaming numbers for a 2024 premiere, the series was aggressively review-bombed and ultimately canceled earlier this month. But, as Stenberg recalled in a series of Instagram stories, the hate campaign began long before the first episode dropped.

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“I’m going to be transparent and say it’s not a huge shock for me,” Stenberg said. “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.

This rampage consisted largely of “hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred and hateful language towards us.”

Amandla Stenberg speaks on #TheAcolyte getting canceled

“It’s not a huge shock for me [that it was canceled]. Of course, I live in the bubble of my own reality but for those who aren’t aware there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even… pic.twitter.com/sk7U8GFq7U

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) August 28, 2024

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

“However, I feel like I’ve kind of moved through those feelings in various ways, including being vocal about it myself. … It just became inarguable for me, at a certain point, that in order to continue to be myself, I would have to honor my value system by being vocal even in the context of working for Disney.”

Despite the intense hatred, it was the love and appreciation from supportive fans that got Stenberg through. “I just want to let those people know out there who supported us in that way, and supported us vocally — despite and in the face of all of the vitriol that we received and the kind of the targeted attack, I would say, we received by the alt-right — just that you were deeply loved and appreciated,” she said.

“And it made this job all worthwhile for me.”