Pegg, who has starred in franchises like “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible,” and “Doctor Who,” had a brief role in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” During SiriusXM’s “Jim and Sam” radio show, Pegg reflected on which franchise has the “hardest fans to please.” Turns out, “Star Wars” topped them all. “To be honest — and as someone who kind of was, you know, kicked off about the prequels when they came out, the ‘Star Wars’ fanbase really seems to be the most kind of toxic at the moment,” Pegg said (via Mediaite). “I’m probably being very controversial to say that.” Pegg added that he has been outspoken about contributing to that toxic backlash in the past. Back in 2018, Pegg admitted to CinemaBlend that he partook in the hatred toward how “annoying” the Jar Jar Binks character was, played by Ahmed Best in the “Phantom Menace” prequel trilogy. Best later opened up about enduring the “venom” directed at him that came from a “racially motivated point of view” from legions of fans.
Pegg personally said he was “ashamed” of “wailing on” the character Jar Jar Binks without thinking of the actor playing him. “I’ve apologized for the things I said about, you know, Jar Jar Binks,” Pegg told “Jim and Sam.” “Because, of course, there was a fucking actor involved. He was getting a lot of flack and…It was a human being. And because it got a lot of hate, he suffered, you know, and I feel terrible about being part of that.” “Star Wars” remains a target of the kind of “toxic” fandom Pegg described. Since the Binks backlash, John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran received racist fan harassment following their respective roles in the recent Skywalker trilogy, leading to Boyega having a “very honest, a very transparent conversation” with Disney executives to not sideline Black and POC characters in the franchise. “Obi-Wan Kenobi” actress Moses Ingram shared that Lucasfilm warned her of the anticipated fan hate after portraying Reva the Inquisitor in the Disney+ series. “There’s nothing anybody can do to stop this hate,” Ingram shared earlier this year after posting an onslaught of racist messages she received. “And so I question my purposes even being here in front of you saying that this is happening.” During the radio interview, Pegg instead pointed to another out-of-this-world franchise for fostering inclusivity both onscreen and within its fan base: “Star Trek.” “I find the ‘Star Trek’ fans have always been very, very inclusive, you know, ‘Star Trek’ is about diversity. It has been since 1966, it always was,” Pegg said. “There’s no sort of like, ‘Oh, you’re suddenly being woke.’ No, ‘Star Trek’ was woke from the beginning, you know? This is massively progressive.”
He added, “[With] ‘Star Wars’ suddenly there’s a little bit more diversity, and everyone’s kicking off about it. And it’s really sad.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
