Amandla Stenberg has spoken out on The Acolyte's abrupt cancellation.
The Star Wars show which premiered on Disney+ in June this year, was canceled a little over a month after its final episode premiered, leaving Disney's roster after only one season.
The series, which starred Stenberg in the roles of Mae and Osha Aniseya, followed a former Padawan who reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes that are hiding a much darker secret.
While Disney hasn't confirmed the exact reasons the show was canceled, factors like mixed-reviews and low-viewership that didn't compensate for the show's production cost have been theorized to be some of the reasons The Acolyte was scratched.
Since initial reports of the show's cancellation last week, Stenberg has taken to her Instagram to 'speak candidly' on the show's reception and ultimate cancellation.
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Posting to her Instagram stories, Stenberg said: "It's not a huge shock for me [that The Acolyte was canceled].
"Of course, I live in the bubble of my own reality but for those who aren't aware there has been a rampage of vitriol that we have faced since the show was even announced.
"When it 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.
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"This really affected me when I first got the job because it's just not something, even though I anticipated it happening, it's not something you can fully understand what it feels like until it's happening to you."
"It has been an incredible honor and dream for me to be in this universe," Stenberg continued. "And I just want to let those people know out there who supported us in that way, and supported us vocally in the face of all the vitriol that we received and the kind of the targeted attack I would say we received by the alt-right, just that you were deeply loved and appreciated and it made this job all the worthwhile for me."
"And I have to thank [show runner] Leslye Headland," they added. "One of the best people in the world."
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"She's so incredibly talented and unique…I will love this experience with her forever."
At the time of The Acolyte's cancellation, fans online seemed to be divided over the news.
The show reportedly earned 4.8 million views in its first day of streaming and debuted on Nielsen's Top 10 originals charts in its premiere week.
However, its viewership faltered after its third week on air with it being largely believed that it received the lowest viewership for a Star Wars series finale.
Topics: Star Wars, Disney, Film and TV
Yasmeen Hamadeh