The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is no stranger to stirring up trouble. He’s recently referred to a large group of Star Wars fans who didn’t like The Last Jedi as “manbabies.” Now, he believes the criticism stems from GamerGate and ComicsGate.

Star Wars blogger Bryan Young recently posted the wildly inaccurate Daily Beast article that maligns ComicsGate in an attempt to explain why so many fans didn’t like The Last Jedi.

I think Star Wars fans would do well to give this article a read. Some of the same players (and new ones) are pulling the same crap here in our sandbox. https://t.co/WHVyR36pDr — Bryan Young (@swankmotron) July 9, 2018

That’s when Johnson got in on the act by attempting to label criticism of The Last Jedi as “violent harassment campaigns.” He ensures the blame is put squarely on GameGate, “I’m always amazed how few people know about Gamergate. It’s not only the key to understanding so many violent harassment campaigns going on today, it’s lots of the same people angry about the same stuff using the same block.”

I’m always amazed how few people know about Gamergate. It’s not only the key to understanding so many violent harassment campaigns going on today, it’s lots of the same people angry about the same stuff using the same playbook. — Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) July 9, 2018

It’s unclear what Johnson is actually referring to when he says “violent harassment campaigns.” It’s possible he might be referring to Matt Hickey, a former Tech contributor at Forbes and Gizmodo, who plead guilty to indecent liberties and two counts of second-degree assault and a misdemeanor for fourth-degree assault. He was sentenced to 34 months. Hickey was a known anti-gamergate journalist.

Or he could be referring to Juan Thompson, who was arrested by the FBI for harassment, cyberstalking, and making death threats towards to his ex-girlfriend. He was also an anti-Gamergate journalist who wrote for The Intercept. However, that doesn’t line up given Johnson is blaming GamerGate for being violent when in fact it appears the opposite is true. An FBI Report on GamerGate even found that “all available investigate steps failed to identify any subjects or actionable leads.” The report would go on to request the “investigation be administratively closed due to lack of leads. There are no items of evidence maintained by the FBI for this investigation. There are no currently outstanding leads for this investigation.”

A report by Women, Action, & the Media also found that “.65% of GamerGate supporting accounts are harassing accounts.”

It appears Johnson is using the “boogeyman” of Gamergate in order to explain why so many people do not like Star Wars: The Last Jedi and why the Star Wars franchise has suffered major brand damage given the absolute financial bomb that Solo: A Star Wars Story laid less than six months after Johnson’s much maligned The Last Jedi.

Young would quickly chime in to help deflect the blame of a poor product from Johnson.

Yeah. It’s disheartening, but it makes it easier to realize that it wasn’t anything you did, or Star Wars fandom as a whole. That’s just who these people are and we, as a society, are going to need to figure out how to deal with them as a whole. — Bryan Young (@swankmotron) July 9, 2018

Johnson would later add what he really thinks of GamerGate claiming it’s “always been exactly what it started out a – a vicious misogyny fueled harassment campaign.”

This is just simply not the case, and we’re years past the point where anyone buys that framing. If you look at its origins, GG has always been exactly what it started out as – a vicious misogyny fueled harassment campaign. — Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) July 9, 2018

Johnson continues to rail against Star Wars fans and consumers with nasty labels like “manbabies.” He’s now claiming the criticism, and much of it warranted, is from GamerGate which he claims stems for misogyny. Johnson appears to be saying that if you didn’t like The Last Jedi you are a misogynist. He’s upped the ante on his insults and disrespect towards Star Wars fans. I wouldn’t be surprised if future Star Wars films continue to fail like Solo: A Star Wars Story if this type of hateful behavior towards Star Wars fans continues.

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