The wonderful world of Star Wars can be a funny old place, with a passionate army of fans that can either make the science fiction movie series a beautiful thing to be a part of, or a truly horrible environment. Actor Simon Pegg has been a lifelong fan of the galactic adventure movies, and even made an appearance in a Star Wars movie, but he has spoken out against the toxic fandom that rears its head from time to time.
Despite most fans being normal, nice people and simply enjoying the franchise for what it is – space wizards doing cool stuff – there is a portion of the fanbase that spouts hate at every turn. Actor Moses Ingram was the most recent victim of this, after her role in the Obi-Wan Kenobi Star Wars series.
In a recent interview with Faction Talk, Simon Pegg discussed the vast difference between Star Wars and Star Trek fans, and condemned the toxicity that is present in the former’s fanbase. He did, however, admit that he too was once guilty of similar behaviour.
“As someone who 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,” Pegg said.
“I mean, I’m out of it now. I’ve apologised for the things I’ve said about Jar Jar Binks because of course there was a fucking actor involved, you know,” the actor added. “I feel terrible about being part of that.”
Pegg had nothing but nice things to say about Star Trek fans though: “I find the Star Trek fans have always been very, very inclusive. You know, Star Trek’s about diversity. It has been since 1966. It always was.”
For Star Wars, sadly, the opposite seems to be true: “Star Wars, suddenly there’s a little bit more diversity and everyone’s kicking off about it and it’s really sad, you know.”
If you want to dive into more content from a galaxy far, far away, you may be keen to check out our guide to watching the Star Wars movies in order.