Star Wars actress Amandla Stenberg, who starred in a 2019 movie about race relations, is today under fire for saying the goal back then was to make "white people cry."
The 2018 footage, which has nothing to do with Stenberg's new role in Disney+ Star Wars TV series The Acolyte, has now resurfaced and is being shared, out of context, by conservative social media accounts, sparking fury.
Stenberg, who identifies as nonbinary, appeared on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah in 2018 as part of her press tour for the movie The Hate U Give.
Interviewing the actress about the film, which follows a young Black woman who turns activist after witnessing her friend being shot by police, Noah asks: "What do you want people to walk away with?" Stenberg replies: "Well, white people crying actually was the goal."
The Daily Show is known for its subversive and humorous approach to current affairs, and Stenberg, who also starred in The Hunger Games, as Rue, in 2012, got serious later in the interview, explaining the film was intended to try to help white people develop more empathy.
"We wanted to make sure that those who have been affected by the way in which the media misconstrues these events, actually have a real sense of empathy and are able to place themselves into the shoes of our communities," Stenberg said at the time.
"Understand that these are not just news events, they are happening to real people. They affect us in really deep and pervasive ways."
These two paragraphs of quotes do not feature in the clip now being shared.
The Hate U Give movie is based on the 2017 young adult novel of the same name by Angie Thomas. Published by HarperCollins's under the Balzer + Ray offshoot, it was inspired by the killing of 22-year-old Black man Oscar Grant III, shot by a White BART Police officer in Oakland, California, in 2009.
The Daily Show clip resurfaced recently and is being used in conservative and right-wing social media to slam Stenberg as "woke." Some even claimed it was a recent interview as part of their press tour for the The Acolyte.
According to the show's Disney+ synopsis, Stenberg plays "a dangerous warrior from the past" in the 2024 Star Wars series, which premiered on Tuesday, June 4.
The clip was shared out of context to X, formerly Twitter, and even got 15.1 million views on the 'End Wokeness' account.
YouTuber Amala Ekpunobi also shared her thoughts, writing "Such a shame to watch a talented actress speak in this way. This is blatant racism that has somehow become casually accepted by society. Awful."
But others sought to clarify Stenberg's meaning.
"Amandla Stenberg meant white people crying out of EMPATHY was the goal. This empathy is for her movie called "The Hate U Give" which was about police brutality on a Black person. Please watch the full video because this is out of context. It's upsetting how this has been twisted," wrote @nostalgicgenius.
"White people crying was the goal"
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 5, 2024
Amandla Stenberg, lead actress for the new Star Wars series, The Acolyte: pic.twitter.com/b9gOhvYVRj
Newsweek contacted Stenberg's representatives by email for comment.
The Acolyte's show runner has recently come under fire for making the new Star Wars series too diverse and woke.
But Leslye Hedland shutdown that criticism saying those who make such comments were not "true fans" of Star Wars.
"I stand by my empathy for 'Star Wars' fans," she told the New York Times. "But I want to be clear. Anyone who engages in bigotry, racism or hate speech ... I don't consider a fan."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
