Star Wars Actress Deletes Social Media

Actress Kelly Marie Tran has deleted all of her posts on Instagram after reportedly undergoing “months of harassment” from trolls.

The pile-on started after the December 17^threlease of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, in which Tran played Rose Tico, a Rebel mechanic. Before that, her credits were scant. While she kept a low profile during the filming, a few months before the movie hit the big screen, she began sharing her story on Instagram.

• “Guys, can I tell you a secret? I avoided public social media for a long time purely because I was afraid. I was terrified of being picked apart, of being scrutinized, of being seen,” the 29-year-old actress wrote in an Instagram caption last October, per E! News. “It took me a year of self-work-and some really amazing, supportive friends-to make me realize that it’s none of my business if people like me or not. It doesn’t change my goals, my dreams, what I want to do with the opportunities I’ve been given.”
• Tran then sent an empowering message to her fans: “YOU ARE ENOUGH. Love yourself and embrace your messiness. That’s where your power lies! (I honestly just wrote this in my journal as a reminder to myself, because hey, I’m mostly a strong person, but life happens, and I’m still figuring it out as I go.)”
• Soon, her worst fears came true. Days after The Last Jedi landed in theaters, her character’s bio in Wookieepedia featured racist slurs. FANDOM, the company behind the page, removed the language. Around the same time, an alt-right figure named Paul Ray Ramsey began harassing her.
• Tran isn’t the first Star Wars star to dismantle her social media presence. Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey, deactivated after she was slammed for her anti-gun stance.