‘Star Wars’ Fan: 8-Year-Old Girl Bullied For Wearing R2 D2 Jacket, Weird Al Comes To The Rescue

An 8-year-old Star Wars fan who had been bullied for wearing an R2 D2 jacket is being supported by eccentric singer “Weird Al” Jankovic.

Even though she’s only eight, Layla Murphy has been a huge Star Wars fan for a couple of years and in November of last year, she received a super cool R2 D2 jacket. However, she stopped wearing it when kids began bullying her because she is a girl, her mother, Nicolette Molina, told TODAY.

“A friend bought her an R2-D2 jacket in November, but she stopped wearing it because she said girls were making fun of her. We would go shopping, and they didn’t have anything for Star Wars in the girls’ section, so we would go to the boys’ section and get her clothes. Girls at her school were noticing she was wearing clothes from the boys’ section and would make fun of her and tell her she can’t wear that.”

While it’s true that, in general, more boys than girls like the films, it is certainly not unheard of and with the new The Force Awakens coming in December, fans are super excited. Additionally, Disney is pushing the film with a massive PR campaign and a new animated series to reach a new generation of followers.

Molina said things got so bad that some of the other girls tried to stage an “intervention” to get this Star Wars fan out of her habit.

“She even asked me to shave her arms, saying one of the girls told her she was turning into a boy and that’s why her arms were hairy.”

Now, thanks to a group of Star Wars fans and Weird Al Yankovic, Layla has been rescued from the unfortunate situation. Molina reached out to another fan at a comic book convention trying to get help for her daughter.

The man is Jason Tuttle, who is a member of the 501st Legion, a large group of Star Wars fans who does charity work while promoting the movies and dressing up as the main characters. Molina said she had hoped Tuttle wold encourage Layla and help her get through the bullying, but it turned into so much more.

Tuttle sent the young Star Wars fan something very personal, according to her mother, and told her he had also been bullied at school. In addition, Weird Al Yankovic became aware of Layla’s case and when she came to one of his shows, he invited her to come backstage dressed in her Stormtrooper costume.

“She loved it,” Molina said. “She thought he was just the silliest guy ever.”

All the kindness has made this young Star Wars fan believe it’s okay for a girl to like the movies and their characters and when school starts again, she will proudly wear her outfits. Her mother says Layla is “definitely way more confident.” The little girl loves to wear helmets and then take them off and see the surprise in people when they realize she’s not a boy.

[Image via Facebook]