The cast members of the Lord Of The Rings prequel The Rings Of Power have united to call out the ‘relentless racism’ aimed at its Black actors.
The recently released Prime Video series, which is set thousands of years before the Peter Jackson films, boasts a diverse line-up of actors, with the likes of Sir Lenny Henry playing a hobbit.
Following the launch of the most expensive TV show ever made, racist trolls have come out of the woodwork criticising the inclusion of Black actors in a fantasy realm.
Standing in solidarity, a statement was shared on the Rings of Power’s official Twitter page condemning the racism.
‘We, the cast of Rings of Power, stand together in absolute solidarity against the relentless racism, threats, harassment, and abuse some of our castmates of colour are being subjected to on a daily basis,’ it read.
‘We refuse to ignore it or tolerate it.’
The statement continued: ‘JRR Tolkein created a world which, by definition, is multi-cultural. A world in which free peoples from different races and cultures join together, in the fellowship, to defeat the forces of evil.
‘Rings of Power reflects that. Our world has never been all white, fantasy has never been all white, Middle-earth is not all white. BIPOC belong in Middle-earth and they are here to stay.
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The boss of Amazon Studios also spoke out to address the racist abuse.
‘We’re really proud of the cast that we have in the show,’ head of Amazon Studios Jen Salke, said.
‘We welcome discussion and even criticism around the series; however, we will not condone racism of any kind.’
Sir Lenny spoke out about racism in fantasy programmes ahead of the release of Rings Of Power.
While the national treasure, who plays harfoot Sadoc Burrows in the JRR Tolkein adaptation, noted that the genre saying it was becoming ‘more inclusive’, he noted there is still backlash to casting Black stars.
Speaking to GQ, Sir Lenny said: ‘They have no trouble believing in a dragon, but they do have trouble believing that a Black person could be a member of the court. Or that a Black person could be a hobbit or an elf.’
Ismael Cruz Córdova, who plays a Silvan Elf called Arondir in Rings of Power and was the first person of colour to play an elf in the franchise, has received ‘pure and vicious hate speech’ for the past couple of years following his casting.
‘I fought so hard for this role for this very reason,’ he told Esquire.
‘I felt that I could carry that torch. I made sure that my elf was the most Elven, the most incredible, because I knew this was coming.’
The Rings Of Power is available to stream on Prime Video with new episodes arriving each Friday.
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