While The Acolyte's recent cancelation may have come as a shock to some, star Amandla Stenberg was not among them.
On Wednesday, the actor posted a video to Instagram Stories reflecting on her time on the show, as well as the way it was received.
"I'm going to be transparent and say it's not a huge shock for me," they admitted. "For those who aren’t aware, there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced... when [the show] was still just a concept and no one had even seen it. That’s when we started experiencing a rampage of hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred, and hateful language towards us."
How much of a role that played in the show's cancelation — or, more specifically, the impact it may have had on viewership — is unclear. But Stenberg isn't wrong about the vitriol and complaints of "woke" that were constantly being lobbed at The Acolyte for appearing inclusive long before it aired.
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Even just looking at Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of critics reviewed the series favorably, compared to just 18% of fans. While that certainly doesn't prove the show was either "good" or "bad," it does lend credence to the theory that negative fan response to The Acolyte was outsized relative to its subjective quality. A post from ScreenRant also suggested a staggeringly high percentage of fan reviews may have been from bots.
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Despite admitting to being "very sad" over the cancelation, Stenberg shared her appreciation for getting to be a part of the Star Wars canon, and for the fans who loved the show.
"It has been an incredible honor and dream for me to be in this universe," they said. "I just want to let those people know out there who supported us... just that you were deeply loved and appreciated. And it made this job all the worthwhile for me."