Early reviews hailed The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which has made the show’s rocky release all the more surprising. The series was quickly review-bombed by viewers, prompting Amazon to take preventive action. Worst of all, a toxic portion of the fanbase has been directing racist abuse at some members of the cast. Arondir actor Ismael Cruz Córdova recently spoke out about the “vicious hate speech” he’s faced, but now the original Lord of the Rings cast have pledged their support.
If you’re yet to start the show, check out the epic trailer for The Rings of Power below.
Actors Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan (known for portraying Frodo, Pippin, and Merry respectively), recently took to social media to post a photo in which they wore t-shirts featuring the ears of various Middle Earth creatures in a variety of skin tones. The photo was captioned, “You are all welcome here.”
Sam actor Sean Astin joined in, taking to Twitter to post a photo wearing a hat that featured the same design. The design is actually part of an initiative, set to raise both money and awareness. The elvish "You are all welcome here," collection is donating 50% of its profits to “a charity that supports POC.”
Hate discrimination is a problem that persists across the industry. House of the Dragon’s Steve Toussaint recently responded to the hate he’d faced saying, “They are happy with a dragon flying. They're happy with white hair and violet-colored eyes, but a rich Black guy? That's beyond the pale.” Hate discrimination of any kind should not be tolerated.
Topics: The Lord Of The Rings, The Rings of Power, Amazon, TV And Film