John Boyega felt ‘peace’ at Disney’s handling of racism directed at Moses Ingram: ‘I’m not bitter’-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro

Boyega experienced racist backlash to his role in the Star Wars universe (Picture: Getty/WireImage/Dave Benett)

John Boyega says he felt ‘peace’ following Disney’s recent handling of racist backlash to black characters in the Star Wars universe.

The British actor said the company’s response to abuse directed at Moses Ingram, who starred in the Obi-Wan Kenobi spinoff series alongside Ewan McGregor, ‘fulfils my time where I didn’t get the support’.

Disney and McGregor both released public statements directly addressing the racist messages sent to Ingram and expressing solidarity with the actress.

Speaking in a new interview, Boyega said he did not feel ‘bitter’ that the franchise had not helped him in the same way when experiencing abuse.

‘Moses Ingram being protected makes me feel protected,’ he said.

‘It makes me feel like, “Okay, cool. I am not the elephant in the room.” Because when I started, it wasn’t really a conversation you could bring up.

The actor starred as Fin in the recent sequel trilogy, but says he has no plans to return to the universe (Picture: Lucasfilm/Bad Robot/Walt Disney Studios/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

‘You know how they went through it. It was kind of like, “Let’s just be silent.” It wasn’t a conversation you could bring up.

‘But now to see how blatant it is, to see Ewan McGregor come and support… It, for me, fulfils my time where I didn’t get the support,’ he shared on SiriusXM’s Tell Me Everything With John Fugelsang.

After Ingram first revealed the racist messages being sent to her, McGregor released a video in which he said the news made him ‘sick to my stomach’ and that those sending the abuse were ‘no Star Wars fans in my mind’.

The official Star Wars account tweeted: ‘There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.’

Ingram’s racist abuse was immediately addressed by both Disney and her show co-stars (Picture: Matt Kennedy/Lucasfilm Ltd./Avalon)

Asked about how he felt, not having had the support that Ingram had, the 30-year-old, who was recently given his own waxwork at Madame Tussauds, said it didn’t ‘make me feel bitter at all’.

‘It makes me feel like sometimes you are that guy. And my dad taught me that.

‘Sometimes you’re not the guy to get the blessing and sometimes you are Moses, you know, you lead the people to the mountain, but you see the destination. You don’t get to go in, you get others to go in. And that’s where you get your happiness from,’ he added.

The Golden Globe winner said that seeing studios recognise that they needed ‘to support [their] black client’ was ‘fantastic’.

Ingram with Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor (Picture: WireImage)

Boyega is set to star next alongside Viola Davis in The Woman King, as well as return to his breakout role as Moses in a sequel to 2011’s Attack the Block.

He’s also let his interest in joining a series like Bridgerton be known, telling Metro.co.uk in April: ‘I would, I’m all about versatility. That’s what we were taught especially in drama school, we were taught about roles that wouldn’t necessarily come our way but we were still trained to try and portray it. 

Boyega has exciting films in the pipeline (Picture: Getty)

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‘So yeah definitely, I would love to be in things that are more nuanced. After this period and doing Star Wars and being on quite a strict eight-year contract and being out of that, my man now feels like a football player like, “what team?” 

‘I feel like definitely, I have more space for things that are different for sure.’ 

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