White nationalist right-wing authoritarians don’t get Star Trek at all, but are somehow still fans, probably only seeing it as a bunch of battles.

In spite of Star Trek’s long history of promoting diversity — as in, like, from the very, very beginning — its fandom is not immune to the kind of ugly racism that comes from the smallest of minds. The reactions to Star Trek: Discovery have sadly served as proof of the hatred among Trekkies. As the first series in the franchise led by a Black woman — Sonequa Martin-Green — and working harder than most series to give representation to women and the LGBTQ+ community, Discovery is often the target of racists and those who can’t stop themselves from criticizing it for being overly “woke.” Now one of the producers has opened up a bit about the hateful messages received from fans literally as soon as Martin-Green and Michelle Yeoh stepped on screen in the premiere episode.

Earlier this week, The Hollywood Reporter posted the transcript and audio of its latest THR Drama Showrunner Roundtable. The producers present included Ben Stiller (Severance), Dan Fogelman (This Is Us), Peter Gould (Better Call Saul), Soo Hugh (Pachinko), Elizabeth Meriwether (The Dropout), and Jenny Lumet (The Man Who Fell to Earth). When the subject of extreme fan reactions came up, Lumet — who is also a producer on Star Trek: Discovery — spoke up about the racist backlash against Yeoh and Martin-Green. “In the premiere of Discovery, we had Michelle Yeoh and Sonequa Martin-Green on a planet walking around,” Lumet recalled. “The hate mail! ‘There are no Black people or Asian people in space!’ Yeah, I know. It’s tricky. ‘There’s the blue guy over there and a tentacle guy over there, but Michelle Yeoh? What the f-k is she doing there?’”

Sonequa Martin-Green And Michelle Yeoh Receiving Racist Hate Mail From Star Trek: Discovery Fans (GiantFreakingRobot)