The Queer Creator of 'The Acolyte' Speaks Out About Trolls Review-Bombing the Show

Backlash against the show began before it even started airing, after an interview in which The Wrap reporter Drew Taylor posited that The Acolyte is “arguably the gayest Star Wars by a considerable margin” went viral. However, in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Headland said that wasn’t her intention.

“Honestly, I feel sad that people would think that if something were gay, that that would be bad,” she said. “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.”

Despite featuring a two-mom witch community and several openly queer actors — including Stenberg, who identifies as nonbinary and gay, gay actor Charlie Barnett, and Headland’s wife, queer actress Rebecca Henderson — Headland is reluctant to describe The Acolyte as implicitly gay.

“I was surprised by [The Wrap’s] question,” she added. “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 I’ve created queer with a capital Q content.”

To Headland, the queerness of Mae and Osha’s mothers, Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva), 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 told The Hollywood Reporter. “So a closeness between the two of them would be natural… I would say it’s really reductive to call them lesbians. I think it means you’re not really paying attention to this story.”

Still, the showrunner went on to stress that she’s not against queer audiences resonating with The Acolyte.

“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,” Headland said. “I would be proud to create something that inspired queer people.”

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