Certain Star Wars fans (if that’s the word we’re going to use) were already on edge after The Force Awakens dared to introduce a female hero with Jedi abilities, but Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi seems to have unlocked a particularly disgusting and pathetic vein of hatred in the minds of some people who really hate to see women pop up in their space movies—or who just really hate to see women in general. We already heard about the 46-minute cut exclusively for misogynists, and today a Star Wars fan page on Twitter has revealed that Kelly Marie Tran (who played Rose in The Last Jedi) has deleted her Instagram page after dealing with “months of harassment” from Star Wars fans.
The Huffington Post wrote about the harassment Tran was receiving back in December, meaning it started right after The Last Jedi came out, so this has clearly been an issue for a long time now. Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in the new Star Wars movies, also deleted her Instagram back in 2016, telling People that there are certain things about public life that she’s “not equipped for.” She was reportedly being harassed after posting a message of support for the victims of gun violence, indicating that there’s a huge toxicity issue going on here beyond what’s happening with Kelly Marie Tran.
Meanwhile, Star Wars fans who aren’t assholes have been sharing messages of support for Tran, which is nice, but it’s worth pointing out that the official Star Wars Twitter account has been completely silent on this topic today—a surprising turn when you consider that the last movie was partially about how Star Wars is for everyone, not just the special few who think they deserve it. Plus, if this whole thing isn’t tragic enough, let’s not forget about how much fun Tran was clearly having with her new place in the Star Wars universe before all of this started.