Netflix’s ‘One Piece’ Crew Rallies Around Charithra Chandran After Racist Backlash

With One Piece season two sailing onto Netflix next year, the latest teaser surprised fans with exciting looks at what’s to come for the Straw Hats. In their journey to the Grand Line, they’re set to encounter more friends and foes.

One of the new faces in the cast is Charithra Chandran as Nefertari Vivi, also known in the long-running manga and anime as Miss Wednesday. The character in the comics is depicted as a light-skinned Egyptian woman, and a loud minority of racist One Piece nerds are criticizing Chandran’s casting because the actor has darker skin. Because of course, they are mad at that being a plausible thing in a universe where a man can stretch his skin or a talking reindeer can be a medical professional.

In response actress Emily Rudd, who plays Nami, shared on her Instagram stories, “Perceived ‘canon’ does not excuse blatant racism or hate of any kind. I am beyond proud of our show, our cast, and the opportunity we have to bring to life a story centered around a diverse found family—by an equally diverse found family.”

Rudd also shared a lengthy post from co-star Rob Colletti (who will debut as Wapol in season two):

As Colletti points out, “Charithra was hand-selected by [One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda], and he has far more knowledge and understanding of his own characters than anyone else, particularly the hateful, unimaginative creeps who actually have the audacity to get on the internet to throw hate speech towards an actor without even seeing their absolutely amazing performance on the show.”

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