Call it toxic fandom or maddening craze for the virtual world, after suffering months of racist and sexist abuse on social media, Star Wars actress Kelly Marie Tran, 29, has deleted all her posts from the social media site Instagram. Tran has deleted all her posts, leaving the site with a line in her biography that reads “Afraid, but doing it anyway”.
With her role in Last Jedi, Tran became the first Asian actress to land a prominent role in the franchise.
The Vietnamese-American actress starred as a mechanic who would turn into a Resistance fighter, Rose Tico, in The Last Jedi. California-born Tran was being targeted by online bullies who passed lewd comments and harassed her since the release of the film. They even abused her based on ethnicity and appearance.
Tran’s co-star Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, fired back at the toxic fans, calling out the harassers online. Hamill stood up for her who was referred to as a “second daughter” to him in the past. “What’s not to love? #GetALifeNerds,” he wrote, sharing a photo of the duo.
READ: ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ is Dedicated To Carrie Fisher’s Leia
Even the film's director, Rian Johnson, criticised the fans and defended the actress. He addressed the trolls as “manbabies”.
He wrote on Twitter: “On social media a few unhealthy people can cast a big shadow on the wall, but over the past four years I’ve met lots of real fellow Star Wars fans.
“We like & dislike stuff but we do it with humour, love & respect. We’re the VAST majority, we’re having fun & doing just fine.”
However, a lot of support has also poured in for the actress on Twitter. Check out how some of the supporters of Tran joined in a Twitter war:
Feature Image Credit: Eonline
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