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On Friday, The Duke of York Theatre in London shared a statement attributed to the Jamie Lloyd Company on X regarding their latest production, “Romeo & Juliet.”

Since a Black woman—Francesca Amewudah-Rivers—landed the coveted role of Juliet, there has been a slew of racist commentary aimed at her and whether she would be a match alongside Tom Holland as Romeo.

The statement read:

“Following the announcement of our ‘Romeo & Juliet’ cast, there has been a barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed towards a member of our company. This must stop. We are working with a remarkable group of artists. We insist that they are free to create work without facing online harassment. We will continue to support and protect everyone in our company at all costs. Any abuse will not be tolerated and will be reported.”

The message continued: “Bullying and harassment have no place online, in our industry or in our wider communities. Our rehearsal room is full of joy, compassion, and kindness. We celebrate the extraordinary talent of our incredible collaborators.

They added, “The ‘Romeo & Juliet’ community will continue to rehearse with generosity and love, and focus on the creation of our production.”

“Romeo & Juliet” is scheduled to run at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre May 23 through Aug. 3. It has already sold out.

Amewudah-Rivers, who is best known for the show “Bad Education,” initially shared her excited on Instagram about her role in the play, writing “Crazy things are happening,” she wrote in the caption. “See y’all in Verona.”

The actress also released a statement about the production.

“I’m so grateful to be making my West End debut as Juliet with The Jamie Lloyd Company. It’s a dream to be joining this team of incredible artists with Jamie at the helm. I’m excited to bring a fresh energy to this story alongside Tom, and to welcome new audiences to the theatre.”

However, having a Black woman in the usually white role did not sit well with many racist trolls. In response, many online began to speak out in Amewudah-Rivers’ favor.

“The vitriol online attacking actress Francesca Amewudah–Rivers (cast as Juliet in a London stage production) for being ‘ugly’ is obscene. Juliet is a regular girl. I don’t remember any attacks on Claire Danes, another normal looking actress,” wrote Dan Therriault on X, who is credited as a screenwriter.

Another social media commentator added words to uplift the black actress, writing, “The Francesca Amewudah-Rivers Supremacy will continue to reign, there is an ARMY behind our girl. Joy will not be stolen. Black folks, allies let’s ensure we protect her as her star ascends.”

It’s unfortunate that this young woman is experiencing such horrible mistreatment. Either way, we are sure she’ll put on one hell of a show.

After all, “Ain’t nothing ugly about Francesca Amewudah-Rivers,” wrote another social media commentator.

Period.