Ewan McGregor Defends 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Costar From 'Racist' Harassment

Actor Ewan McGregor has faced his fair share of criticism from fans who didn't like the Star Wars prequel trilogy, but he's never received hate quite like this.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi" costar Moses Ingram, who plays the Force Sensitive Inquisitor Reva, said that Lucasfilm execs warned her that she would "likely" receive harassment for her role, but it seems no one was truly prepared for how much hate she would receive.

On Tuesday, the official Star Wars Twitter account tweeted, "We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist."

They added, "There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist."

Star Wars posted the statement in response to screenshots of messages Ingram received on her Instagram Stories, some of which included the N-word.

“There’s nothing anybody can do about this,” Ingram said in a video transcribed by The Hollywood Reporter. “There’s nothing anybody can do to stop this hate. I question my purpose in even being here in front of you saying that this is happening. I don’t really know.”

She continued, “The thing that bothers me is this feeling inside of myself, that no one has told me, but this feeling that I have to shut up and take it, that I have to grin and bear it. And I’m not built like that. So, I wanted to come on and say thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments and the places that I’m not going to put myself. And to the rest of y’all, y’all weird.”

On Tuesday, Ewan McGregor posted a message on the Star Wars Twitter account. Although he was happy to see that “Obi-Wan Kenobi” was the most-watched Disney+ original series premiere since the streaming service launched, he was disappointed with the harassment Ingram has received.

“It seems that some of the fan base has decided to attack Moses Ingram online and send her the most horrendous, racist [direct messages]. I heard some of them this morning, and it just broke my heart,” he said in the video, which can be seen below.

“Moses is a brilliant actor. She is a brilliant woman. And she is absolutely amazing in this series,” he continued. “She brings so much to the series, she brings so much to the franchise. And it just sickened me to my stomach that this had been happening. I just want to say as the lead actor in the series, as the executive producer on the series, that we stand with Moses. We love Moses.”

“And if you’re sending her bullying messages, you’re no Star Wars fan in my mind,” he added. “There’s no place for racism in this world. And I totally stand with Moses.”

“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” actor Anson Mount also posted his support to Moses Ingram on Instagram.

He posted a picture of her with the caption: “This is Moses Ingram. She is a singular talent and a recent addition to the @starwars universe. She has also been targeted by racists pretending to be fans because her mere existence threatens a skewed, dystopian fantasy that selectively omits the likes of @therealbillydee and others. We, the Trek Family, have her back.”