Star Wars fans are impossible to please, according to a study from Ohio State University. This fact makes it very difficult to be a star in the movie on social media. Both Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey, and Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico) left social media entirely after harassment from fans.
To this day, John Boyega, who plays Finn, remains one of the only stars from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, to stay active on social media. Let’s take a look at how he is navigating the constant negative remarks from fans. His clap-back set fans off again, but this time against each other.
What brought about John Boyega’s recent Instagram video?
The controversy on social media began for Boyega when the star responded to a fan on Instagram who suggested the door was now open for Finn with the death of Ben Solo (Adam Driver) in The Rise of Skywalker.
“It’s not about who she kisses but who eventually lays the pipe,” Boyega commented. “You are a genius.”
The response soon went viral, with fans calling Boyega everything from “gross” to “sexist” and countless other negative things. The star defended himself and told fans he was not referring to women, but a fictional character.
His responses did not seem to appease fans, so he recently posted a video clapping back against the harassment.
In the video, Boyega kicks, punches, and destroys offensive comments from fans with everything from his fists to a lightsaber.
Fans are enraged even more by Boyega’s video
“I’ve got that out of my system. What’s next?” Boyega finishes his video.
He needed to get that off of his chest. Instead of removing himself from social media, the 27-year-old English actor claps back at fans.
“Daisy would be disgusted in him for treating fans this way,” commented one fan on Boyega’s video. “She left social media due to harassment.”
Many fans are offended by the star’s video.
“Adam Driver is online right now posting about Arts in the Armed Forces,” added another Instagram user. “John Boyega is online right now, using his platform as a widely known celebrity to post about this.”
Fans are disgruntled that the Rise of Skywalker actor is using his social media account to fight back about the harassment. Driver also does not have a social media account but created a short video clip to thank those who started a charity in his name.
“You really left everyone’s usernames in like that,” wrote another Star Wars fan on Instagram.
Still, others are upset that he did not black out the commenters’ names when creating his video.
Boyega’s fan base fights back against the negative commenters
“The Reylo shippers harassed John,” argued one fan. “He’s just having a good time with it.”
Many other fans believe that it was a good move for Boyega to poke fun at the fans who harassed him.
“Do you realize that what he’s doing is valid?” questioned another fan in the comments of the video. “He received hate for years and now is taking back control. If KMT [Kelly Marie Tran] did this too, it would be valid as well. They both have experienced harassment and extreme levels of racism. They shouldn’t have to be forced to stray away from social media.”
It seems like just as many fans support Boyega’s video as hate it. He has many commenters coming to his defense.
“John can post what he wants,” added another Instagram user. “His posting this doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about charities.”
The fans defended Boyega, saying that he was right to fight back and that he shouldn’t have to blackout users’ names.
“If they weren’t prepared for the world to see it, they shouldn’t have said it,” wrote another fan.
Boyega’s video is inundated with comments and over 400,000 views just one day later. However, whether it helped or hurt the situation remains to be seen. At the very least, Boyega spoke his mind about the negative comments made against him, and has many coming to his defense.