Charlie Barnett from ‘The Acolyte’ reported for error in ‘Star Wars’

The acolyte Actor Charlie Barnett faces backlash from Star Wars fans online, after appearing to confuse Luke and Anakin Skywalker.

During a press tour for the show, which is the latest installment of the Star Wars universe, the 36-year-old referred to “Anakin blowing up the Death Star,” upsetting die-hard fans of the sci-fi saga.

In the first film of the series, Star Wars: a new hope (1977), Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker destroys the super weapon with the help of the Rebel Alliance.

The Death Star is the passion project of the main antagonists of the first three films, Darth Sidious, also known as Chancellor Palpatine, and Darth Vader, who is later revealed to be Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker.

The Death Star emerged during a recent press day with Barnett and co-stars Dafne Keen and Rebecca Henderson, before The acolyteReleasing June 4 on Disney Plus. The actor, who plays Jedi Knight Yord Fandar, was discussing the show’s morally ambiguous message, which explores the line between good and evil.

In an interview clip that went viral on social media, Barnett said, “Well, Anakin just blew up an entire Death Star, how many people have done that?”

His response was to the confused looks of Keen and Henderson. After user Hot Spot (@HotSpotHotSpot) shared it on X, formally Twitter, on June 6, the moment went viral and received more than 3.7 million views.

Barnett then made the mistake a second time during an interview alongside Keen and co-star Manny Jacinto.

Barnett described himself as a fan of the franchise and praised The acolyte history.

“As a fan who came in, that was the most beautiful and interesting thing for me,” the Emmy nominee said: “Darth Vader is a bad person, it’s very clear, it’s very well established by his actions.

“But you can’t look at it and say that Anakin blew up the Death Star, possibly killing millions and millions of people…”

At that point, Keen stops intervening and tells Barnett “you should shut up now,” as Jacinto bursts into laughter.

news week has reached out to Charlie Barnett for comment via email.

After user Kev (movie.review_man.man.man) shared it on TikTok, the second clip also went viral, racking up 71,000 likes.

Several fans were upset about the mistake, with TikTok user Real writing, “The comment about Anakin blowing up the Death Star hurt.”

“That’s Disney Star Wars for you,” said fellow TikToker @NovaScarz.

“They pay me all that money and I can’t watch a movie,” commented @Racoon777.

“Give Star Wars back to true Star Wars fans,” wrote @chef1950.

“Imagine if we had actors, directors and producers who were (Star Wars) fans and truly cared about the quality of their show or movie,” said @mkscode. “I’m sure that show would be AMAZING.”

However, others defended Barnett, with one X user asking: “You guys know these are actors, right?”

“Passing a geek test is not part of their job. They are there to perform,” said @iameldiablito.

“Leave them alone,” Mark Twair agreed.

“Actors take jobs without knowing the source material all the time. We shouldn’t expect them to know the story or do everything right,” wrote @WitAndWiticism.

“I get names mixed up sometimes,” commented @Garret, while @j51rope said, “Now, Alec Guinness and Harrison Ford.” The actors played the original Obi-Wan Kenobi and Han Solo, and both have publicly mocked the franchise in the past.