The cast members of Star Trek Discovery were slammed by social media users Sunday after a photo of the CBS show’s stars taking a knee went viral online.
The photo, posted on Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green’s Instagram account, was an apparent show of unity with NFL players protesting the national anthem.
The post, captioned with the hashtag #StarTrekDiscovery and #takeaknee, appeared online just hours after the show’s world premiere.
While many social media users praised the actors for making their political statement, other users called the gesture “ridiculous” and “shameful.”
“Ridiculous, lost a follower! It’s disrespectful to those that died for our flag no matter how you look at it #shameful,” one Instagram user wrote in response to the photo.
“I’ll not be watching this show and deleting therealsonequa,” one user wrote while another said, “Couldn’t we have just had one night of celebratory joy exclusive of politics? You do you, though.”
“Life long Star Trek fan no more,” a user wrote while another said, “This is quite a disappointment to see.”
Some fans of Martin-Green’s — who’s known best for her role on AMC’s The Walking Dead — said they were disappointed in her decision to join NFL players protesting the national anthem.
“I would never take a knee. I’ve loved you since twd….i no longer support you,” one user wrote.
“Wow I was a huge fan of yours and you just completely screwed that up,” another fan wrote. “Time to free up space on my dvr now that I won’t be recording your show.”
The actor’s photo came on a Sunday that saw hundreds of NFL players, team owners, and executives participating in political demonstrations during the playing of the national anthem before the start of NFL games.
The teams protesting the national anthem did so Sunday in large part as a response to President Donald Trump, who called out NFL players for protesting the anthem and the NFL teams’ owners who allow it.
The new Trek series will reportedly feature war-like Klingon warriors as an allegory for racist Trump supporters.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson
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