United States Senator Ted Cruz recently took an indirect shot at certain female Star Wars characters on Twitter, but actor Daisy Ridley isn't having it."Hilarious," said Daisy Ridley, who played neo-Jedi Rey Skywalker in the latest Star Wars trilogy, in response to a question Wednesday from Yahoo! Entertainment's Kevin Polowy regarding Sen. Cruz' tweet. Ridley acknowledged she wasn't aware of the remarks made by the Republican Texas Senator, who called her character Rey "an emotionally tortured Jedi."
"I am happy to be an 'emotionally tortured Jedi,' responded Ridley, "Who doesn't leave their state when it's having a terrible time."
Sen. Cruz has been facing media backlash for various reasons over the past two weeks. On Feb. 11, the Senator defended actor and fellow Texan Gina Carano, who had played Rebel Shocktrooper-turned-New Republic Ranger Cara Dune on Disney+'s The Mandalorian before being fired by the network for making her own controversial remarks on social media.
Carano "broke barriers in the Star Wars Universe," read Sen. Cruz' tweet in part, "not a princess, not a victim, not some emotionally tortured Jedi." His comments have been widely interpreted to be in reference Princess-turned-General Leia Organa, played by Carrie Fisher, Naboo Queen-turned-Senator Padme Amidala, played by Natalie Portman, and Rey. Cruz' entire tweet can be read here.
Then, on Feb. 17, Cruz boarded a plane for a last-minute family vacation in Mexico while his home state was being ravaged by widespread power blackouts and water shortages in the wake of a crippling winter storm. After drawing unwanted media attention, Cruz returned home the next day.
Among her other accomplishments, Fisher's character played a large part in destroying three planet-destroying weapons in various Star Wars films. Portman's fought during the Clone Wars, and Ridley's helped overthrow a resurrected and despotic Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Source: Twitter