'Get a life, nerds!' Mark Hamill, Olivia Munn, and other celebs show love for 'Star Wars' actress Kelly Marie Tran after online trolls lead her to quit social media
Trust the force, ignore the haters.
After news broke that Star Wars: The Last Jedi actress Kelly Marie Tran, who plays Rose Tico, reportedly quit social media because of racial and sexual harassment, the first lead female character of color in the iconic film series has been shown a lot of love by both fans and celebrities, including Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.
What's not to love?#GetALifeNerds pic.twitter.com/k1sa0X1qpg
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) June 6, 2018
The famous face of the franchise — and Tran’s co-star — posted a photo in which he has his arm around her as they mug for the camera. “What’s not to love?” he wrote before offering a stinging, “Get a life, nerds.”
Director Rian Johnson took Star Wars trolls to task for the harassment. After all, it’s fans of the film series who have been leading the charge, including editing the “Wookieepedia” page for Tran’s character to include racist comments.
On social media a few unhealthy people can cast a big shadow on the wall, but over the past 4 years I’ve met lots of real fellow SW fans. We like & dislike stuff but we do it with humor, love & respect. We’re the VAST majority, we’re having fun & doing just fine. https://t.co/yhcShg5vdJ
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) June 5, 2018
Done with this disingenuous bullshit. You know the difference between not liking a movie and hatefully harassing a woman so bad she has to get off social media. And you know which of those two we’re talking about here.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) June 5, 2018
Your “implication” was not an implication at all, it was explicitly stated in your tweet: you’re conflating critiquing a movie with being an abusive asshole to people online, when it’s clear as day they are two seperate things & we’re condemning the latter and not the former.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) June 5, 2018
But not every famous person in Tran’s corner is tied to the film series. Olivia Munn spoke out, as another Asian-American actress, saying how proud she was of Tran for “forging a path in Hollywood, which is extremely hard because it’s not a path that already exists for us … all the way to STAR WARS !!!” She urged her not to “trip over the haters, walk over them.”
A post shared by Olivia Munn (@oliviamunn) on Jun 6, 2018 at 8:59am PDT
Ditto The Gifted’s Jamie Chung — with a little dash of salt.
#KellyMarieTran You are beautiful, strong, fucking talented and a voice for so many folks like myself….
— Jamie Chung (@jamiechung1) June 6, 2018
#KellyMarieTran thank you for showing us humility, humor and compassion. Who do I need to check?? I’ll do it. FUCK THE HATERS
— Jamie Chung (@jamiechung1) June 6, 2018
And Gabrielle Union bestowed on Tran “Woman Crush Wednesday” honors. She noted: “It pains me to see underrepresented women feeling abused and isolated, all while having to defend their own existence. As the first woman of color and Asian woman to play a lead in a Star Wars film, Tran’s breakout performance should have been a celebration. Thanks to racist, sexist internet bullies, things quickly shifted from one of elation to disappointment.”
A post shared by Gabrielle Union-Wade (@gabunion) on Jun 6, 2018 at 12:59pm PDT
Silicon Valley star Kumail Nanjiani, who was born in Pakistan, doesn’t get it either.
I totally embarrassingly fanned out when I met Kelly Marie Tran. Rose Tico was unequivocally one of the highlights of The Last Jedi. You’d have to be an idiot to disagree with that.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) June 5, 2018
Many non-hater fans have since shown Tran support — and a campaign called #FanArtforRose has been born out of the drama. Here are a few of the pieces being shared on social using her film lines.
That's how we will win this. Not destroying what we hate. #FanArtforRose pic.twitter.com/2dN2TUquwI
— Courtney @ AAAAND I FELT YOUUU (@courmore) June 6, 2018
“That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate; saving what we love.” #KellyMarieTran #FanArtforRose #WeloveKellyMarieTran pic.twitter.com/VSDD83qyw8
— Clara (@ClaraEPB) June 6, 2018
Bring light to the world #FanArtforRose Art by Devin Doty pic.twitter.com/Og7vslf7HI
— Ziggy (@mrjafri) June 6, 2018
#FanArtforRose
Kelly Marie Tran brought a lot of joy and love to the franchise. pic.twitter.com/VbIqo2Fq9z— Meredith ?? McClaren (@IniquitousFish) June 6, 2018
I sincerely loved her character and #KellyMarieTran seems like a such genuine and sweet individual. Her Instagram was a joy to follow and I will miss it. Thanks too for repping people who never get to see themselves reflected in media! #FanArtforRose pic.twitter.com/I65BeTjzLG
— Tiff Bartel ?? (@tiffbartel) June 5, 2018
Tran is not the first Star Wars star to pull the plug on social media. Daisy Ridley also deleted accounts because of drama with fans about an anti-gun post she shared. She later said that social media isn’t for her right now. “I’m 24. I have a lot of growing up to do. I have to deal with loads of stuff myself personally. For that to be projected with millions of people watching, that is like a bit of an extra pressure,” she noted.
Clearly Tran can relate.
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