Simon Pegg Says Star Wars Has The Most Toxic Fandom

Simon Pegg has been in a lot of movies, but there’s one film fandom that stands out from the rest — and not in a good way.

The actor, who has been featured in film franchises like Star Trek and Mission: Impossible, had an easy answer when he was asked which movie had “the hardest fans to please.”

His answer? Star Wars by far, even though he knows that’s “very controversial” to say.

“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,” he shared on the Jim and Sam radio show.

And his answer makes total sense, considering that several Star Wars actors have been victim to online harassment in the past few years.

Simon admits that he, too, was once a part of the toxic fandom, sharing that he unfortunately contributed to the backlash against Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best following the release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

“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,” Simon said.

He added, “And because it got a lot of hate, he suffered, you know, and I feel terrible about being part of that.”

Meanwhile, Simon says many other fandoms are very different, specifically Star Trek‘s “very, very inclusive” fan base.

“Star Trek’s about diversity. It has been since 1966, it always was…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,'” Simon concluded.