STAR WARS Actor Ahmed Best Shares Support For Amandla Stenberg Following THE ACOLYTE’s Cancelation

In the wake of apparent review-bombing and a surprising level of negativity surrounding the series, The Acolyte was recently canceled by Disney+ after a single season. As a result, many Star Wars fans are left with a long list of unanswered questions about where the story was meant to go.

Lead star Amandla Stenberg, who faced similar racist abuse to John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, and Moses Ingram after being cast, recently broke her silence on the decision. And now, she’s earned the support of fellow Star Wars actor Ahmed Best.

“I will always stand in solidarity for artists who give 110% to their work and art,” tea Star Wars: The Phantom Menace star said. “Keep shining queen (Amandla Stenberg).”

As for why the actor would choose to weigh in, it likely has something to do with his own experiences with Star Wars fans. The vitriol he faced for playing Jar Jar Binks in 1999 saw him contemplate suicide.

Asked recently if he thinks people knowing there was a man beneath the VFX would have changed anything, Best said, “I don’t think so. We are addicted to nostalgia. Anything that disrupts nostalgia is going to be faced with severe emotional backlash. Regardless of whether I was in makeup or in CGI, the nostalgia of Star Wars would have been broken and we would have had negative reactions.”

That sounds awfully similar to what’s happened with The Acolyte.

Addressing the cancellation in a lengthy video this week, Stenberg shared, “There are many folks out there that I want to acknowledge and I want to show appreciation and love and support for, so that’s why I’m hopping on here to talk about this, which is that our Star Wars show has been canceled.”

“And I’m gonna be transparent and say that it’s not a huge shock for me,” she added. “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 announced, when it was still just a concept and no one had even seen it.”

Stenberg later described the attacks as “hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language” directed by herself and The Acolyte‘s diverse cast.

You can see Best’s post supporting the actor in the Instagram post below.

In The Acolytean 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.

The entire first season of The Acolyte is streaming on Disney+.