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Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy defended Disney Star Wars’ storytelling from anti-woke critics, saying the franchise needs to reflect the diversity of the real world.
Kennedy spoke to The New York Times ahead of the debut of the franchise’s latest Disney Plus streaming show, "Star Wars: The Acolyte." The Lucasfilm executive, who has often been maligned by series fans who say Star Wars became "woke" under her leadership, stood by her creative choices and brushed off criticism as what comes with a "male dominated" fan base.
"My belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people," Kennedy told The New York Times in the interview with her and "Acolyte" creator Leslye Headland.
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Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy defended Star Wars' diverse storytelling during a recent interview with The New York Times. (Gerardo Mora / Stringer)
Before getting to Kennedy’s perspective, the Times noted that some Star Wars fans have criticized the show’s push for diversity. It pointed to a comment on "The Acolyte" trailer, noting that others shared similar sentiments: "Why are there so many women, girls and minority characters increasingly dominating the ranks of Jedi?"
The Times also pointed out that "trolls" have nicknamed the upcoming series "The Wokelyte." Kennedy said Star Wars storytelling should represent everybody.
"That’s an easy decision for me," she said.
Kennedy said it's hard for women to be a part of Star Wars because they are so attacked.
"Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation — it’s terrifying," she said.
"I think Leslye has struggled a little bit with it," Kennedy added. "I think a lot of the women who step into ‘Star Wars’ struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal."
Though Kennedy suggested that criticism of current Star Wars storytelling is largely male-driven, females, like Oscar-winning "A New Hope" film editor Marcia Lucas — who used to be married to series creator George Lucas — have called Kennedy out for her choices.
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"Star Wars" creator George Lucas appears at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival ahead of being honored with a Palme d'Or award. (JB Lacroix / Contributor)
Lucas criticized Kennedy and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" filmmaker J.J. Abrams’ storytelling in a 2021 interview.
"It sucks," she said. "The storylines are terrible. Just terrible. Awful. You can quote me."
"Now that she’s running Lucasfilm and making movies, it seems to me that Kathy Kennedy and J.J. Abrams don’t have a clue about ‘Star Wars,'" she also said.
Other Star Wars notables, like sequel trilogy star Daisy Ridley, have undercut Kennedy’s point about male Star Wars fans targeting female creators.
In response to questions about whether she believes the Star Wars fan base is sexist, Ridley — who plays Rey — told NBC’s TODAY in January, "I think my take is things get blown out of proportion. And the interactions I've ever had with people have been nothing but wonderful and supportive."
Kennedy's alleged woke storytelling has also been the subject of "South Park" jokes.
Multiple clips from an episode went viral across X last year, including one where main character Eric Cartman described his nightmare to a psychiatrist about kids at school being replaced, saying, "I wanna scream and I'm like, ‘Why are they replacing every single character with someone who is diverse? But then Kenny’s like, ‘It’s not our fault it's ‘cause of Kathleen Kennedy,' but then Kathleen Kennedy’s just like, ‘F--- it, make it more lame!’"
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Fox News Digital's Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
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