The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland addressed the backlash from some fans regarding the introduction of "lesbian witches" in the galaxy far, far away.
Since the premiere of the series, it has become the subject of hate and trolling from a section of the Star Wars fandom as they called it "woke" due to its diverse characters and supposed queer themes.
The third episode in particular became a target due to its introduction of coven leaders Mother Aniseya and Mother Koril as the maternal figures of Mae and Osha and the exploration of their relationship as a same-sex couple.
Leslye Headland Responds to The Acolyte 'Lesbian Witches' Claims
In an interview, Headland opened up about the backlash from some fans surrounding the supposed queer themes in The Acolyte and how it is called the "gayest Star Wars by a considerable margin."
She explained that, while there are queer characters in the series, she doesn't consider it to be queer content.
"I was surprised by the question. Amandla [Stenberg] 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," the showrunner said.
Headland also discussed why Mother Aniseya and Koril formed a relationship and how it was circumstantial.
"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," she said.
"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."
Regardless of the backlash or not, Headland is proud of what she accomplished in the series.
She added, "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."
The online discourse regarding The Acolyte for the past few weeks has been tumultuous and we're not seeing any signs that it won't die down anytime soon as the season continues to air.
In the end, as proven by Stenberg's recent music release, the cast and crew are not affected by the backlash and they will continue to stand by what they made.
New episodes of The Acolyte premiere every Tuesday night on Disney+.
What do you think of Headland's remarks? Let us know in the comments!
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