Simon Pegg Praises “Progressive” And “Inclusive” Star Trek Fans, Slams “Toxic” Star Wars Followers
Star Wars fans can be an intolerably cruel bunch.
That’s according to Simon Pegg, who shared this observation during his appearance on SiriusXM’s Jim and Sam radio show. When asked which franchise he’s been involved with, and he’s been in many — Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Mission: Impossible, and er, Ice Age — had the hardest fans to please, Pegg picked Star Wars.
“To be honest — and as someone who kind of was, you know, kicked off about the prequels when they came out, the Star Wars fanbase really seems to be the most kind of toxic at the moment,” said Pegg, 52, who had a brief cameo in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “I’m probably being very controversial to say that.”
And Pegg knows this all too well because he was part of the lynch mob that went after Star Wars prequels with extreme prejudice, notably the Jar Jar Binks character played by Ahmed Best in 1999’s The Phantom Menace.
“I’ve apologised for the things I said about, you know, Jar Jar Binks,” said Pegg.
“Because, of course, there was a f***ing actor involved. He was getting a lot of flack and … it was a human being,” he added. “And because it got a lot of hate, he suffered, you know, and I feel terrible about being part of that.”
Daisy Ridley, Kelly Marie Tran, and John Boyega have all bore the brunt of spiteful fans. For Ridley and Tran, the hate campaign got so bad that they were forced to quit social media.
More recently, newcomer Moses Ingram was targeted by haters for her role as Jedi hunter Reva Sevander in the Disney+ limited series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Responding to the backlash, Lucasfilm said in a statement, “We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Pegg thought Star Trek followers are a more enlightened group. “I find the Star Trek fans have always been very, very inclusive — you know, Star Trek [is] about diversity. It has been since 1966, it always was,” said Pegg who played USS Enterprise chief engineer Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott in the JJ Abrams-run of Star Trek movies.
“Star Trek was woke from the beginning, you know? … This is massively progressive. Star Wars, suddenly there’s a little bit more diversity and everyone’s kicking off about it,” he said. “And it’s, it’s really sad.”
Watch Pegg's interview here:
Pegg will next be seen, or rather, heard in the Apple TV+ animated feature Luck, premiering on Aug 5.
