Leslye Headland and Amandla Stenberg laughed off the backlash directed at ‘The Acolyte’ in an interview earlier this month. Headland discussed their reaction in a recent chat with The Hollywood Reporter:
“I was surprised by the question. 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 that I’ve created queer, with a capital Q, content.”
The showrunner also addressed ongoing criticism of the show’s LGBTQ+ content and added:
“Honestly, I feel sad that people would think that if something were gay, that that would be bad. 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.”
Her Thoughts About The ‘Lesbian Witches’
‘The Acolyte’ introduced Mother Aniseya (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Mother Koril (Margarita Levieva) as the leaders of a coven referred to as ‘lesbian witches.’ Headland commented on this label:
“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. So, a closeness between the two of them would be natural. It seemed plot-driven. I would say it’s really reductive to call them lesbians. I think it means you’re not really paying attention to this story.”
The showrunner herself is a lesbian married to Vernestra Rwoh actress Rebecca Henderson. She says of those who feel represented by the coven:
“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. I would be proud to create something that inspired queer people.”
‘The Acolyte’ is now streaming on Disney+.
