Evidently, the shocking Johnny Depp-Amber Heard verdict broke too late to make it onto The Daily Show Wednesday night. But host Trevor Noah did take some time out to weigh in on another controversy that has been dominating Hollywood headlines this week.
After discussing the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+, Noah noted that there is “one character in particular who isn’t getting the warmest welcome” from Star Wars fans. He was talking about actress Moses Ingram, who faced a barrage of racist attacks following last week’s premiere.
“Nobody should have to just shut up and take racism,” Noah said in response to Ingram’s exasperated attempts to address the hate she has received online. “Especially in Star Wars.”
“Like, guys, what is this?” he asked. “From the beginning, this has been a series where no one thinks twice if Harrison Ford is best friends with a giant dog-bear or if a brother and sister want to smash. No one complains about that! They’re not getting death threats.”
The host went on to say that he’s “so tired of fans attacking Black people in Star Wars,” something that has become an ugly trend in recent years, “when there are so many other races and species they could be bigoted against.” He jokingly urged racist Star Wars fans to “mix it up” and “think bigger” by going after ethnic groups that only exist in that universe.
And as great as it was that Obi-Wan star Ewan McGregor made a video supporting Ingram, Noah said that he believes Star Wars “needs to come back even harder against the racists.”
“They should give Princess Leia a new Black boyfriend,” he suggested, imagining the scene where he tells her, “Hey, yo, Leia, I got the plans for the Death Star, we gonna fuck tonight.”
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