John Boyega is calling on Hollywood film studios to speak up in support of actors who become the target of racism and/or sexist online abuse. Boyega experienced toxic fandom firsthand as a Black man leading the most recent `Star Wars` trilogy, a franchise that saw cast members Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran also receive an abundance of online harassment from fans upset with the inclusive casting.

Toxic fandom has also made Brie Larson of `Captain Marvel` and Lashana Lynch of `No Time to Die` the victims of online abuse, among others.

In an interview this week, Boyega said studios must get publicly involved in the fight against toxic fandom, explaining, `When one of your actors, especially an actor that's so prominent in the story, is announced as part of your franchise and then it has a big racial backlash and receives abuse online and that starts to form a shadow on what is supposed to be an amazing gift, it is important for the studios to definitely lend their voice, lend their support to that and to have a sense of solidarity not just in the public eye, but on the ground on set.`

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John Boyega is calling on Hollywood film studios to speak up in support of actors who become the target of racist and/or sexist online abuse. Boyega experienced toxic fandom firsthand as a Black man leading the most recent #StarWars trilogy, a franchise that saw cast members Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran also receive an abundance of online harassment from fans upset with the inclusive casting.⁠ ⁠ Boyega said studios must get publicly involved in the fight against toxic fandom: `When one of your actors is announced as part of your franchise and then it receives abuse online...it is important for the studios to definitely lend their voice." Read more at the link in our bio.⁠ --⁠ #daisyridley #kellymarietran #johnboyega #fandom #film

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Boyega said in September, `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.`