THE ACOLYTE Showrunner Addresses Fan Backlash and Previous Comments She Made

As fans continue to debate Star Wars: The Acolyte, showrunner Leslye Headland recently addressed the fan backlash and previous controversial “gayest Star Wars” comments and also explained the coven of witches, which are being referred to by some as “lesbian witches.”

In regards to the “gayest Star Wars” comment, she told THR: "I was surprised by the question. Amandla and I just burst out laughing because that’s our knee-jerk reaction to being asked that, but to be honest, I don’t know what the term 'gay' means in that sense. I don’t believe that I’ve created queer, with a capital Q, content."

When talking about the backlash on that, Headland added: "Honestly, I feel sad that people would think that if something were gay, that that would be bad.

“It makes me feel sad that a bunch of people on the internet would somehow dismantle what I consider to be the most important piece of art that I’ve ever made."

When it comes to the witches, the filmmaker explained: "They’re in a matriarchal society. As a gay woman, I knew it would read that their sexuality is queer, but there also aren’t any men in their community.

“So a closeness between the two of them would be natural. It seemed plot-driven. I would say it’s really reductive to call them lesbians. I think it means you’re not really paying attention to this story." 

When talking about taking on this project she said: "I’m proud of being a gay woman who’s accomplished this feat, and certainly, if my content is called queer, I don’t want to disown whatever queerness is in the show. I would be proud to create something that inspired queer people."

There’s certainly a lot of hate regarding The Acolyte for a lot of reasons on top of what Headland is talking about in the interview.

I think it’s fine to have a healthy productive debate about these things and offer constructive criticism. But, there are definitely a lot of people going overboard on the hate. I’d like to think there’s a way to discuss these things without the conversation going off the rails.

But, a lot of the conversations I’ve seen online and on social media go off the rails. For me, the story doesn’t click, I don’t think the writing is good, and I wish they would’ve stayed more in line with the history and tone of Star Wars.

I’m not giving up on the franchise, I just want to see quality Star Wars projects get made. Every fan has a standard in their head of what that is.