Mnews Entertainment
Sports
News
Animals
Babies
 – 0 comment
Elon Musk blasted Lucafilm president Kathleen Kennedy for putting the âStar Warsâ franchise in jeopardy by pushing âwokeâ propaganda in the latest spinoff âThe Acolyteâ â which has drawn criticism over its lead characters being spawned by âlesbian space witchesâ as part of the storyline.
âSheâs more deadly than the Death Star!â Musk wrote in response to a post on X that pictured Kennedy as a âfranchise đđŸđđerâ alongside other Empire death machines.
Kennedy â who has been president of Lucasfilm since Disney bought the film and production company founded by âStar Warsâ creator George Lucas in 2012 â has defended her decision to name Leslye Headland to direct âThe Acolyte,â which is currently streaming on Disney+.
In a response to another post on X that said Kennedy hired Headland because she had struggled as showrunner due to a male-dominated fanbase, Musk wrote: âKathleen Kennedy is âsuper bigoted against men.â
Lucas, who launched the famed franchise before selling his company to Disney for $4 billion, has in large part stayed away from any involvement with any of the âStar Warsâ spinoffs.
Headland, the first woman to create a TV series for the franchise, has sought to make âThe Acolyteâ more diverse by casting minority actors including Amandla Stenberg, who identified as nonbinary and gay, and Korean star Lee Jung-jae.
The narrative in âThe Acolyteâ that has raised hackles implies that powerful witches belonging to an all-female coven â led by Mother Aniseya, played by actress Jodie Turner-Smith â used the force to generate female offspring that star as the twin main characters, played by Amandla Stenberg.
Kennedy, whose producing credits include âE.T.â and the âJurassic Parkâ series, was also criticized by Musk as âbigoted against men.â
Kennedy backed Headland, telling The New York Times: âMy belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people.â
She said that supporting Headland was âan easy decision for me.â
Kennedy said it was âterrifyingâ to receive backlash from the âmale dominatedâ fan base which has reacted negatively to recent âStar Warsâ films and TV series promoting female stars including Daisy Ridley, who played Rey in the sequel trilogy âThe Force Awakens,â âThe Last Jediâ and âThe Rise of Skywalker.â
Headland responded to the criticism, telling The Hollywood Reporter last week that she didnât think âThe Acolyteâ was âqueer with a capital Q.â
Disney has drawn criticism in recent years for introducing âwokeâ content to appeal to a broader audience.
Last year, âSouth Park,â the animated satire put out by cable channel Comedy Central, mocked Disney for âpanderingâ to audiences by promoting diversity in franchises including âStar Warsâ and âIndiana Jones.â
In one âSouth Parkâ episode titled âJoining the Panderverse,â the show took aim at Kennedy, who was accused of ordering the producers of her franchise projects to âput a chick in itâ and to âmake her lame and gay!â
In 2021, Disney fired actor Gina Carano, star of âStar Warsâ spinoff series âThe Mandalorian,â after a series of social media posts, including one which compared the political climate in the US to the period in Nazi Germany.
Musk, the Tesla boss who has been critical of Disney, announced earlier this year that he was backing Caranoâs lawsuit against the company.
Carano, the former MMA star who played Cara Dune in the spinoff, alleged that she was booted from the series because she espoused conservative views.
She is asking the court to order Disneyâs Lucasfilm unit to reinstate her in the role and seeks compensatory damages of up to $75,000 plus emotional distress and punitive damages to be determined at trial.
âThe Acolyteâ features a plot line that includes witches who use the force to generate offspring.