The things that distinguish us from one another are often our marks of individual greatness,” Rick Riordan writes. “The core message of Percy Jackson has always been that difference is strength. Riordan and his wife, Rebecca Riordan, who’s also an executive producer of the series, both issued statements against the harassment of Jeffries. The 12-year-old Jeffries said in an Instagram video that her TikTok account had been banned thanks to people upset with her casting: “They literally took down my whole account,” she said. They’ll star in the series with Walker Scobell, who is playing the title role. Riordan describes the character as white in the books.ĭisney+ announced the casting of Jeffries and Ayran Simhadri as Annabeth and Grover Underwood on May 5. In a blog post, Rick Riordan condemned social media trolls who have complained that Leah Sava Jeffries, who was cast as Annabeth Chase in the Disney+ series, is Black. The author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series - and executive producer of the upcoming Disney+ series based on the books - has spoken out against racist backlash directed at one of the show’s actors.
