Star Wars Stands With LOTR Against Rings Of Power Racist Backlash

In response to the online racist backlash against The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Star Warshas shared a post in solidarity with the fantasy show. Amazon’s highly-anticipated Rings of Power premiered September 1 on Prime Video and has been met warmly by critics who called the big-budget show a worthy successor to Lord of the Rings. However, the series has been received very differently by many so-called fans who take issue with its deviation from its source material, mainly its diverse casting decisions.

A portion of Lord of the Rings‘ toxic fanbase even resorted to review bombing Rings of Power, causing the show’s audience score to dip below 40% on Rotten Tomatoes, which resulted in Amazon temporarily suspending reviews. Unfortunately, some of the online backlash has been directed at Rings of Power‘s cast members themselves, with star Ismael Cruz Córdova being the recipient of “pure and vicious hate speech” due to his casting as the Silvan Elf Arondir. In response, the Rings of Power cast issued a statement on Twitter standing with their co-stars of color by denouncing the “relentless racism, threats, harassment, and abuse” they have been subjected to online and originating the hashtag “#YouAreAllWelcomeHere.“

Now, Star Wars is standing in solidarity with its fellow franchise. In response to Lord of the Rings‘ original post, the official Star Wars Twitter account showed its support for Rings of Power‘s diverse cast, stating “From Middle-earth to a galaxy far, far away… #YouAreAllWelcomeHere.” Check out the interaction below:

While the racist backlash to Rings of Power has been disheartening, it’s encouraging to see Star Wars standing in solidarity with Lord of the Rings, especially since the former franchise has had to deal with its own toxic fanbase on numerous occasions. After the release of The Last Jedi in 2017, Rose Tico actor Kelly Marie Tran became the subject of racist and sexist attacks online. More recently, Obi-Wan Kenobi star Moses Ingram dealt with a wave of racist comments due to her performance as Reva. In both instances, Star Wars showed unequivocal support for the actors and denounced the attacks.

Now that Lord of the Rings is, unfortunately, dealing with similar backlash, it’s nice to see Star Wars sticking to its guns and showing support for a rival franchise. While this surely won’t put an end to this issue altogether, at least it can help highlight the growing problem of toxic fandoms online across multiple franchises, and how this is not just an isolated incident confined to Lord of the Rings. Hopefully, the hate will die down as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power continues its strong start with new episodes every Friday on Prime Video.

Source: Star Wars/Twitter