It seems like everything is being dragged into the aftermath of the U.S. election, and the upcoming Star Wars spinoff is no exception.
A week before the release of Rogue One, Donald Trump supporters started to call for a boycott of the film on Twitter with the hashtag #DumpStarWars.
Photo: Trump Attends ‘Villains & Heroes’ Costume Party Dressed As Himself!
The source of the boycott appears to be a series of tweets from the film’s writer Chris Weitz in early November, in which he compares Trump’s uprising to the ultimate villains in the Star Wars universe, writing:
“Please note that the Empire is a white supremacist (human) organization.”
Weitz has since deleted the tweet and has apologized, but his on-the-nose comparison was enough to spark online outrage from Trump supporters who are calling the film “anti-Donald Trump” (and “feminist propaganda” for daring to have a female lead).
The viral lynch mob was inflamed by unsubstantiated claims that new scenes were added to the sci-fi adventure that brand the president-elect a racist:
Um… what?
Weitz’s response to the alt-right’s latest conspiracy theory was short and simple:
Disney also denied the plot was changed in post-production reshoots.
At Saturday’s world premiere of Rogue One, Disney CEO Bob Iger told The Hollywood Reporter he had “no reaction” to the ridiculous claims, explaining:
“I think the whole story has been overblown and, quite frankly, it’s silly. I have no reaction to [this] story at all. Frankly, this is a film that the world should enjoy. It is not a film that is, in any way, a political film. There are no political statements in it, at all├óΓé¼┬ª [Rogue One] has one of the greatest and most diverse casts of any film we have ever made and we are very proud of that, and that is not a political statement, at all.”
We couldn’t agree more! Reflecting the diverse world in which we live should just be seen as the status quo, not some crazy progressive idea!
However, we have a feeling the alt-right would still believe Rogue One was anti-Trump even if they were told otherwise by Luke Skywalker himself:
Not only is the social media firestorm still at large, but pro-Trump Star Wars posters have been popping up in Hollywood around the Rogue One premiere!
Related: Trump Denounces CIA’s Investigation About Russia’s Election Interference
Created by notorious conservative street artist Sabo, the faux-posters paint the president-elect as the film’s protagonist played by Felicity Jones, along with his whole motley crew — including senior counselor Steven Bannon, Breitbart‘s Milo Yiannopoulos, Ann Coulter, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and Fox News‘ Sean Hannity.
These posters are HIGHlarious for many reasons, but the most has got to be comparing Donald to a strong female rebel fighter! Ha!
Ch-ch-check out the sad posters (below)!
[Image via Disney/WENN/Twitter.]