“Angering as many fans as possible” — Matt Walsh slams Leslye Headland for making The Acolyte “the gayest Star Wars show yet” 

Podcaster Matt Walsh slammed Leslye Headland for pushing the LGBTQ+ agenda in her newly released series The Acolyte, claiming that she has "no respect" for the audience of her show.

In the July 12 episode of The Matt Wash Show, the host supported his claim by citing an interview with The Wrap, featuring The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland and star Amandla Stenberg, in which Headland recalled people telling her that the series is the "gayest Star Wars," to which she responded:

"Frankly [I'm] into it."

Stenberg added:

"I think that Star Wars is so gay already. I mean, have you seen the fits? We'd be like, look how gay this is, and then send each other a reference photo," Stenberg added.

In response to Leslye Headland's interview, Walsh sarcastically told viewers not to worry about the plot or the characters, implying that the creators had neglected key elements in place of focusing on LGBTQ+ themes during their interview.

He ridiculed the enthusiasm of Amandla and Leslye, who are excited about making the "gayest Star Wars show yet," claiming that this is the "exact opposite" of what viewers want to watch.

"They're [Leslye Headland and Amandla Stenberg] excited that this new Star Wars show will be the gayest Star Wars show yet, which is in every way the exact opposite of what the audience actually wants. No, nobody has watched the recent Star Wars films and shows and said to themselves, 'You know, this would be better if only it was even gayer.'"

Matt Walsh further suggested that the only thing the viewers take away from their interview is Leslye Headland's sexual orientation, implying that was the main topic of her discussion.

He continued that Headland is not promoting "subversive woke ideology," instead, she is simply "angering" the fans.

"This is how Disney is promoting the latest entry to the franchise they spent $4 billion to buy a decade ago. And that has a lot of fans wondering how exactly she was chosen for the role of showrunner. If her role is to push some subversive woke ideology, she's not being very subversive about it. She's just angering as many fans as she possibly can."

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Matt Walsh argues Disney has "doubled down" on "agenda-driven" content, referencing Leslye Headland

At the beginning of The Matt Walsh Show, Matt Walsh highlighted that about eight months ago, Disney CEO Bob Iger "publicly pledged" that the company would refocus its efforts on "entertainment," not "political messaging."

However, Walsh claimed that Disney has since done the opposite, doubling down on "agenda-driven" content to the point of "attacking" its viewers. Walsh further argued that the key problem in companies like Disney goes beyond just "wokeness."

"Disney, over the past eight months, has apparently decided to double down on agenda-driven content to the point that they're now openly attacking their own fans," Walsh remarked.

He said the real issue is "corporate mediocrity," where people with impressive-sounding credentials, who fit certain demographic boxes, get leadership roles in businesses they don’t really understand. He supported his point by referring to an interview with Leslye Headland.

Matt Walsh also mentioned that Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy had backed Leslye last year, saying that critics of Leslye's approach likely just "hate women."

In an interview with The New York Times, published on May 29, 2024, Kathleen Kennedy responded to backlash from Star Wars fans against The Acolyte for featuring a growing presence of "women, girls, and minority characters" in roles like the Jedi.

In response, Kennedy stated that storytelling should represent all people, and that's an "easy decision" for her. She also highlighted the challenges of working within a large franchise, "with social media and the level of expectation."

She added that female creators like Leslye Headland, who step into 'Star Wars' struggle way more, as the fan base is "male-dominated," and they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be "quite personal."

In response, Matt Walsh expressed frustration with Kennedy's remarks, stating,

"Yeah, she really said that 'storytelling does need to be representative of all people,' says the CEO of Lucas Film as she mocks her own fan base. These people are so dumb, they don't even understand the words coming out of their own mouths. Representative of all people. Really? Are they going to have 8 billion characters in this show, one for each person on Earth?"

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Matt Walsh's full commentary is available on his official YouTube channel.