Hollywood actor of Nigerian descent, John Boyega has accused Disney, an American multinational entertainment conglomerate, of racism.
Speaking with GQ Magazine, Boyega said Black actors like him were not given priority in the last Star Wars film, The Rise of Skywalker.
“What I would say to Disney is do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are, and then have them pushed to the side. It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up,” he told GQ.
Boyega however acknowledged that some people would accuse him of “making it up”, but the character hierarchy in The Last Jedi, an installment in the Star Wars franchise, was hard to take.
“They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley. Let’s be honest. Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I’m not exposing anything,” Boyega said.
He further noted that Star Wars didn’t know what to do with non-white characters.
“So what do you want me to say? What they want you to say is, ‘I enjoyed being a part of it. It was a great experience…’ Nah, nah, nah. I’ll take that deal when it’s a great experience,” he added.
Boyega is one actor who’s known for being vocal about racism.
Eelive.ng had reported that the Hollywood star, in June 2020, gave an emotional speech as he joined a Black Lives Matter protest in London following the killing of George Floyd, a black American.
Due to his support for Black Lives Matter, he was enlisted among some British-Nigerian stars who have repeatedly stood against racism.
