--- title: Kelly Marie Tran Breaks Silence on Instagram Harassment description: Kelly Marie Tran has spoken out for the first time since wiping her Instagram in June amid reports of extensive harassment. canonical: https://time.com/5373345/kelly-marie-tran-breaks-silence-instagram-harassment/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-21T17:39:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:27.399Z og:title: Kelly Marie Tran Breaks Silence After Deleting Instagram Because of Racist Abuse og:description: "It wasn’t their words, it’s that I started to believe them" og:url: https://time.com/5373345/kelly-marie-tran-breaks-silence-instagram-harassment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt675df4deac9f954b/6989383786f68ef1a76e9f2c/kelly-marie-tran-harassment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Kelly-Marie-Tran-Harassment og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kelly Marie Tran Breaks Silence After Deleting Instagram Because of Racist Abuse twitter:description: "It wasn’t their words, it’s that I started to believe them" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt675df4deac9f954b/6989383786f68ef1a76e9f2c/kelly-marie-tran-harassment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kelly Marie Tran Breaks Her Silence After Deleting Instagram Because of Racist Abuse  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 21, 2018 5:39 PM CUT  Kelly Marie Tran attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones Kelly Marie Tran attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika JonesPresley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Aug 21, 2018 5:39 PM CUT [Kelly Marie Tran](http://time.com/5301772/last-jedi-kelly-marie-tran-harassment/ "undefined") has spoken out for the first time since wiping her [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/kellymarietran/?hl=en "undefined") in June amid [reports](https://twitter.com/SWTweets/status/1003833275738013697 "undefined") of extensive harassment about her role in the [_Star Wars_](http://time.com/5045736/upcoming-star-wars-movies/ "undefined")franchise. In a [_New York Times_ op-ed](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/movies/kelly-marie-tran.html "undefined") that was published on Tuesday, Tran—who played Resistance mechanic Rose Tico in _The Last Jedi_—reflected on her decision to delete her account after being subjected to months of sexist and racist comments. Tran is the first woman of color to appear in a lead role in a _Star Wars_ movie. “It wasn’t their words, it’s that I started to believe them,” she wrote. “Their words seemed to confirm what growing up as a woman and a person of color already taught me: that I belonged in margins and spaces, valid only as a minor character in their lives and stories.” The 29-year-old Asian-American actor went on to discuss her lifelong battle with racial and misogynistic persecution before vowing to continue fighting for a better future. “I want to live in a world where children of color don’t spend their entire adolescence wishing to be white,” she wrote. “I want to live in a world where women are not subjected to scrutiny for their appearance, or their actions, or their general existence. I want to live in a world where people of all races, religions, socioeconomic classes, sexual orientations, gender identities and abilities are seen as what they have always been: human beings.” Tran concluded the essay with a powerful announcement of her real name. “You might know me as Kelly,” she wrote. “I am the first woman of color to have a leading role in a _Star Wars_ movie. I am the first Asian woman to appear on the cover of _Vanity Fair_. My real name is Loan. And I am just getting started.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5373345/kelly-marie-tran-breaks-silence-instagram-harassment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5373345/kelly-marie-tran-breaks-silence-instagram-harassment/"},"headline":"Kelly Marie Tran Breaks Her Silence After Deleting Instagram Because of Racist Abuse","datePublished":"2018-08-21T17:39:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:54:27.399Z","description":"\"It wasn’t their words, it’s that I started to believe them\"","url":"https://time.com/5373345/kelly-marie-tran-breaks-silence-instagram-harassment/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt675df4deac9f954b/6989383786f68ef1a76e9f2c/kelly-marie-tran-harassment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt675df4deac9f954b/6989383786f68ef1a76e9f2c/kelly-marie-tran-harassment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kelly-Marie-Tran-Harassment","caption":"Kelly Marie Tran attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party","creditText":"Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5373345/kelly-marie-tran-breaks-silence-instagram-harassment/","name":"Kelly Marie Tran Breaks Her Silence After Deleting Instagram Because of Racist Abuse"}}]}] ```