Kathleen Kennedy Blames 'Star Wars' Fans For Not Liking Her Bad Movies

Hollywood and the entertainment industry saw a major shakeup this week, with news that Kathleen Kennedy was out as head of Lucasfilm. Lucasfilm, the company founded by George Lucas and the producer of the "Star Wars" franchise and "Indiana Jones" franchise, has become one of the most important parts of Disney Studios' portfolio.

And Kennedy ran it into the ground. 

The latest "Star Wars" trilogy was mostly forgettable. "The Last Jedi" was widely despised by fans of the franchise, with "Rise of Skywalker" such a disjointed mess that it became a punch line. Their streaming shows haven't fared much better. While "Anora" and "The Mandalorian" have been successful, many others have either been panned, or in the case of "The Acolyte," were so purposeful about injecting progressive politics into "Star Wars" that they were canceled after one season. 

"The Acolyte" was the ideal avatar for Kennedy's tenure at Lucasfilm; a bad idea, poorly executed, and dedicated to her personal views on politics and the future of entertainment. Well, in a new interview discussing her time at the studio, Kennedy unsurprisingly took umbrage with those who criticized her decision-making. Instead of taking responsibility for failures, she unsurprisingly blamed fans for rejecting her bad ideas. 

RELATED: Disastrous Kathleen Kennedy 'Star Wars' Era Finally Comes To An End

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 23: Kathleen Kennedy, President, Lucasfilm attends the launch event for Lucasfilm's new Star Wars series The Acolyte at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2024.  (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Kathleen Kennedy Says Fans Are To Blame For ‘Star Wars’ Failures

In a new interview with Deadline, couched as an "exit interview" for Kennedy, she defended her record and turned the blame to fans for not liking her choices. When asked about the "lows," she said, "You've got a very, very small percentage of the fan base that has enormous expectations and basically they want to continue to see pretty much the same thing. And if you’re not going to do that, then you know going in that you’re going to disappoint them." 

Incredibly, Kennedy then said she wouldn't do anything differently or change anything she's done.

"I’m not sure there’s anything you can do about that, because you can’t please everybody," she continued. "All you can do is try to tell good stories and try to stick to the essence of what George created. He embedded incredible values into Star Wars and what it has to say. The whole idea of hope and fun and entertainment in what he’s done over all these years, that’s what I tried to preserve. And I wouldn’t do that any differently and I wouldn’t change anything that we’ve done over the years. I understand why some people may like certain things more than others, but that’s not going to change why I decided to do certain things and why I decided to work with the people that we worked with."

This is insanity, and demonstrates that reality distortion field she lives in has clearly worked to perfection. It's not a "very, very small percentage" of fans that were upset with the direction of the previous trilogy, it was the overwhelming majority. Because she had no plan for how the series should go, and its execution was disappointing, to say the least. Plot points made little sense, or wasted time. The decision to bring back Palpatine completely undercut the ending to "Return of the Jedi" and Darth Vader's emotional arc. "The Last Jedi" turned Luke Skywalker into a bitter, lonely, depressed old man who rejected what he'd became by the end of the original series. A Kathleen Kennedy hallmark for male heroes. They never once put Luke, Han, and Leia on screen together, for even a few seconds. 

That's just a small list of problems. Then there are the problems with the expanded "Star Wars" universe, including widely-despised shows like "The Acolyte." Kennedy talks in the interview about growing the galaxy and bringing in new fans and viewers, but instead what she did was alienate core fans, leading to apathy, while bringing in nobody. "The Force is female" became her rallying cry, and nobody cared. 

That's the other issue; acting as though fans only wanted "the same thing" as before. This is, of course, ridiculous. Fans didn't want to just see a remake of the original trilogy, but they did want consistency, logic, quality, emotional resonance, and memorable heroes worth rooting for. They didn't get it. Luke, Han, and Leia are legendary characters that will live forever. Nobody cares about Rey, Poe and Finn. Darth Vader was one of film history's best villains. Kylo Ren will mostly be remembered as a meme. This is so obvious that Disney's had to admit defeat with its "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge" theme park lands and bring in the original characters and John Williams score. Because nobody cares about Kylo Ren and Rey.

Kennedy can't see it because she doesn't want to, but that's the reason her projects failed. She doesn't even understand what makes for quality storytelling. To her, it's as simple as checking some boxes. It isn't.