Ewan McGregor says racist messages to Obi-Wan Kenobi co-star ‘sickened me to my stomach’

‘If you’re sending her bullying messages, you’re no Star Wars fan in my mind,’ actor said

Ewan McGregor has condemned the racist abuse received by his Obi-Wan Kenobi costar Moses Ingram, in a video message posted by the official Star Wars Twitter account.

The post on Wednesday 1 June arrived hours after the Star Wars account itself posted a statement, telling fans: “Don’t choose to be a racist”.

“It seems that some of the fan base has decided to attack Moses Ingram online and send her the most horrendous, racist DMs. I heard some of them this morning, and it just broke my heart,” McGregor said in the video.

“Moses is a brilliant actor. She is a brilliant woman. And she is absolutely amazing in this series. 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,” he continued.

“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. There’s no place for racism in this world. And I totally stand with Moses.”

On Tuesday (31 May), Ingram, who plays an Imperial Inquisitor out to hunt McGregor’s Obi-Wan in the series, posted a series of abusive, racist comments she had received on her Instagram Story.

Ingram recently told The Independent’s Louis Chilton that Lucasfilm, Star Wars’ production company, had warned her about the negative reception she might receive.

“It was something that Lucasfilm actually got in front of, and said, ‘This is a thing that, unfortunately, likely will happen. But we are here to help you; you can let us know when it happens,’” she said.

Ingram is not the only actor to receive racist abuse from Star Wars fans: John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran have also spoken out about the racism they received online when they were cast in the franchise.

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In 2020, Boyega urged movie studios to take a larger and more public role in defending their stars from racist harassment.

Meanwhile, Tran said she had to quit the internet for “her own sanity” after the trolling she received for her role in 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi.