‘LOTR’ Stars Elijah Wood, Sean Astin & More Defend ‘Rings of Power’ Cast Amid Racist Backlash (PHOTOS)

“You are all welcome here.” That’s the message strewn across Lord of the Rings-inspired merch worn by OG hobbits Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd. The actors banded together to show support for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cast following racist backlash to the show from Tolkien fans on social media.

In the photos, shared on Wood and Astin’s Twitter accounts, Wood, Monaghan, and Boyd posed together in their matching shirts. “You are all welcome here” is written across the chest in J.R.R. Tolkien’s elvish language, and below the phrase are ears of different shapes and skin tones. Some are pointed, like the elves in Tolkien’s world, and some are curved like humans, dwarves, and harfoots. Astin shared a selfie on his account showing him wearing a hat with the same design.

The merchandise was created by Lord of the Rings superfan Don Marshall, known as the “Obscure Lord of the Rings Facts Guy” on TikTok. According to the merch site, 50 percent of the proceeds on the inclusive items will be donated to a charity benefitting people of color.

I am unapologetically calling this the return of the kings:

You Are All Welcome Here @LOTRonPrime @DonMarshall72 #RingsOfPower https://t.co/8txOhlHa2f pic.twitter.com/nWytILT0zG

— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) September 7, 2022

The vile response to The Rings of Power cast began before the show even came out on Prime Video. Racist Tolkien fans have been whining about the show casting people of color as elves, dwarves, and harfoots (hobbit ancestors), making the easily disproved claim that Tolkien specifically wrote these characters as white. In fact, the text says the opposite! As author and big Tolkien fan Neil Gaiman (creator of The Sandman and American Gods) pointed out in one example, Tolkien described harfoots as beings “browner of skin.”

“Tolkien described the Harfoots as ‘browner of skin’ than the other hobbits. So I think anyone grumbling is either racist or hasn’t read their Tolkien,” Gaiman tweeted in response to one user’s question. “Your mileage may vary.” A predictably vile response from another user came next.

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Whoopi Goldberg Slams Racist 'House of the Dragon' & 'Rings of Power' Fans: 'Get a Job!'

“Browner of skin means tanned white similar to people who work in the sun as they are in a temperate environment like England, you are both lying and trying to deceive people [Gaiman], shame on you,” wrote the overconfident tweeter who’s pretending Middle-earth is an actual place.

As Gaiman replied, “Tolkien didn’t say ‘The Harfoots spent longer in the sun than any of the other hobbits and were a lot more tanned.’ He said they were ‘browner of skin.'”

You are all welcome here.#RingsOfPower @LOTRonPrime #MiddleEarth #Samwise @ElijahWood @BillyBoydActor @DomsWildThings @DonMarshall72 https://t.co/w2tdZ4nFwN pic.twitter.com/f4RsBKE9an

— Sean Astin (@SeanAstin) September 7, 2022

Also coming to the show’s defense is Whoopi Goldberg, who slammed the naysayers in a September 6 segment of The View. In the segment, Goldberg noted that The Rings of Power and HBO‘s House of the Dragon (which also faced racist backlash for casting Black actors as Targaryens — the horror!) are fantasy shows that “don’t exist in the real world.”

“You know that? There are no dragons. There are no hobbits. Are you telling me Black people can’t be fake people too? Is that what you’re telling me? I don’t know if there’s like a hobbit club, I don’t know if there are gonna be protests, but people! What is wrong with y’all?” she said, adding, “All of y’all who have problems because there are Black hobbits… Get a job! Get a job! Go find yourself, because you are focused on the wrong stuff.”

The support is much appreciated by The Rings of Power cast. Ismael Cruz Córdova, who plays the warrior elf Arondir made for the series, thanked Wood, Astin, Monaghan, and Boyd for the love on Twitter, saying “Much love” with heart, fist, and elf emojis. He also quoted the tweet and said, “We belong in Middle-earth.” Córdova also took a moment to thank Marshall for “being a loud voice of love and support from the get go.”

We belong in Middle-earth . ✊🏾✊🏾💖@elijahwood @BillyBoydActor @DomsWildThings @DonMarshall72 https://t.co/YfRd5wmekA

— Ismael Cruz Cordova (@IsmaelC_C) September 7, 2022

Benjamin Walker, who plays High King Gil-galad, also responded to Wood and Astin’s tweets thanking them for the support. Wood responded with a heartfelt “Of course!”

This is all to say, leave this wonderful cast alone and appreciate the art! The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Star Wars — all of these shows are fantasy. Elves do not exist. Hobbits do not exist. The Targaryens are a fictional family that rides fire-breathing dragons, which also don’t exist. The fact that some people are louder about a Black Targaryen than they are about that family’s long history of incest and marrying children (the Hand of the King literally suggested Rhaenyra marry her 2-year-old half-brother in Episode 3) is, quite frankly, nasty. Jedi and Sith Lords do not exist.

Give it a dang rest, and go touch some grass.