The Acolyte creator says she was "not surprised" her Star Wars show got cancelled, but she was "surprised at the swiftness of it and the publicness" of the announcement

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Leslye Headland addresses the show's cancellation

The Acolyte
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

Over a year after The Acolyte was axed on Disney Plus after only one season, the show's creator Leslye Headland has admitted she wasn't surprised by the decision, but she didn't expect how the news was delivered to the fans, and to her.

"I was not surprised by it. I think I was surprised at the swiftness of it and the publicness of it. I was surprised by how it was handled," she told The Wrap. "But once I was getting particular phone calls about the reaction and the criticism and the viewership, I felt like 'OK, the writing's on the wall for sure.'"

Despite getting a good reception among critics (it stands at 79% on Rotten Tomatoes), the show became a target of racist online attacks. Lead actor Amandla Stenberg called out "a rampage of… hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language" towards the cast, and admitted the cancellation was "not a huge shock."

Mireia Mullor
Mireia Mullor
Contributing Writer

Mireia is a UK-based culture journalist and critic. She previously worked as Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy, and her work as a freelance writer has appeared in WeLoveCinema and Spanish magazines Fotogramas, Esquire, and Elle. She is also a published author, having written a book about Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service' in 2023. Talking about anime and musicals is the best way to grab her attention.

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