The actor, who stars in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens', believes that the sci-fi franchise has the hardest fans to please with cast members including Kelly Marie Tran and Moses Ingram being victims of online harassment from toxic fans.

• Jul 22, 2022

AceShowbiz - Simon Pegg has claimed that 'Star Wars' has a "toxic" fanbase. The 52-year-old actor, who featured in the film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", believes that the sci-fi franchise has the hardest fans to please with cast members including Kelly Marie Tran and Moses Ingram being victims of online harassment from toxic fans.

The actor, who also makes appearances in "Star Trek" and "Doctor Who", told SiriusXM, "To be honest - and as someone who kind of was, you know, 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. I'm probably being very controversial to say that."

The "Shaun of the Dead" star admitted that he was once a "toxic" 'Star Wars' fan as he spoke out against "Jar Jar Binks" actor Ahmed Best when the prequel movie "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" was released. Simon said, "I've apologised for the things I said about, you know, Jar Jar Binks. Because, of course, there was a f**king actor involved. He was getting a lot of flack and... it was a human being. And because it got a lot of hate, he suffered, you know, and I feel terrible about being part of that."

Pegg played Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott in the 'Star Trek' reboot film series and finds fans of the franchise to be "very inclusive." He shared, "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."

"There's no sort of like, 'Oh, you're suddenly being woke'. No, 'Star Trek' was woke from the beginning you know? This is massively progressive," he added. " 'Star Wars' suddenly there's a little bit more diversity and everyone's kicking off about it. And it's really sad."