Every fandom has its dark side, but some, it must be said, are worse than others. Simon Pegg may be the leading expert on the topic, having appeared in several major franchises, including Mission Impossible, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who, among many other much-beloved properties.
During an appearance on Sirius XM’s Jim And Sam show, Pegg was asked which franchise, in his extensive experience, has “the hardest fans to please.” He replied, “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.”
It’s not really a controversial thing to say to anyone but a member of the toxic side of Star Wars fandom, but Pegg is speaking from personal experience–as an actual toxic fan. He admitted, “I’ve apologized for the things I said about, you know, Jar Jar Binks. Because, of course, there was a fucking 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.”
On the other end of the spectrum, “I find that Star Trek fans have always been very, very inclusive,” he said. “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 now.’ Star Trek was woke from the beginning, you know?”
Pointing to the progressive casting of non-white actors from the beginning of Star Trek’s inception, Pegg observed, “Star Wars suddenly there’s, there’s a little bit more diversity and everyone’s kicking off about it. And it’s, it’s really sad, you know?”