Elon Musk has slammed Lucafilm president Kathleen Kennedy for endangering the “Star Wars” franchise by pushing “conscious” propaganda in the latest spinoff “The Acolyte,” which has drawn criticism for its lead characters being fathered by “lesbian space witches” as part of the story.
“It’s deadlier than the Death Star!” Musk wrote in response to a post on X that described Kennedy as a “fan of the franchise” along with the Empire’s other death machines.
Kennedy, who has been president of Lucasfilm since Disney bought the film and production company founded by “Star Wars” creator George Lucas in 2012, has defended her decision to appoint Leslye Headland to direct “The Acolyte,” which is currently streaming on Disney+.
Responding to another post on X that said Kennedy hired Headland because she had struggled as a showrunner due to a male-dominated fanbase, Musk wrote: “Kathleen Kennedy is “super intolerant of men.”
Headland, the first woman to create a TV series for the franchise, has sought to make “The Acolyte” more diverse by casting minority actors, including Amandla Stenberg, who identified as nonbinary and gay, and Korean star Lee Jung-jae.
The narrative of “The Acolyte” that has caused a stir involves powerful witches belonging to an all-female coven — led by Mother Aniseya, played by actress Jodie Turner-Smith — using the force to generate female offspring that star in the twin main characters, played by Amandla Stenberg.
Headland responded to the criticism by telling The Hollywood Reporter last week that she didn’t think “The Acolyte” was “queer with a capital Q.”
Disney has come under fire in recent years for introducing “conscious” content to appeal to a broader audience.
Last year, “South Park,” the animated satire aired on cable channel Comedy Central, mocked Disney for “pandering” to audiences by promoting diversity in franchises like “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones.”
In an episode of “South Park” titled “Joining the Panderverse,” the show took aim at Kennedy, who was accused of ordering producers of her franchise projects to “put a girl in there” and “make her lame and gay!”
In 2021, Disney fired actress Gina Carano, star of the “Star Wars” spin-off series “The Mandalorian,” after a series of social media posts, including one that compared the political climate in the United States to the period of Nazi Germany.
Musk, the Tesla boss who has been critical of Disney, announced earlier this year that he supported Carano’s lawsuit against the company.
Carano, the former MMA star who played Cara Dune in the spin-off, alleged that she was ousted from the series because she espoused conservative views.
She is asking the court to order Disney’s Lucasfilm unit to reinstate her and is seeking compensatory damages of up to $75,000 plus emotional distress and punitive damages to be determined at trial.
