Elijah Wood joins Lord of the Rings co-stars to protest racist backlash against new Amazon series
Online backlash has erupted over diverse casting in ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Elijah Wood and his co-stars from the Lord of the Rings films have jointly responded to the online backlash to the diverse casting on the Amazon series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The new prequel series, set thousands of years before director Peter Jackson’s trilogy of films, includes performers from many different races, in contrast to the all-white cast in earlier depictions of the fictional Middle Earth. Black British actor Lenny Henry, for example, appears in the series as a hobbit.
Whoopi Goldberg and author Neil Gaiman are among the celebrities to have already spoken out about the backlash.
Now, Wood and several co-stars, including Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Billy Boyd (Pippin Took), and Dominic Monaghan (Merry Brandybuck), have posted their support on social media. In the images, the actors are wearing hats and t-shirts emblazoned with elfin ears in various shapes and skin tones.
Alongside the photo, Wood posted the message, “You Are All Welcome Here” – the English translation of the Elvish writing marked on the t-shirts.
Separately, Sean Astin supported the campaign with a hat emblazoned with the same slogan in a Twitter post mentioning his co-stars.
The pro-inclusivity merchandise was designed by Lord of the Rings TikTok star Don Marshall, who has pledged to donate half the proceeds to a charity that supports people of colour.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments