Kathleen Kennedy’s leadership at Lucasfilm has been a bone of contention among a vocal minority of “fans” since she first took over the franchise. Despite the overall success Star Wars has seen since Disney acquired it, some remain dissatisfied with the perceived direction in which its gone. Granted, there have been some missteps, assuredly. Notwithstanding, Star Wars is flourishing. The Bad Batch returns on May 4th. The Book of Boba Fett arrives this arrives Christmas. Then there’s The Mandalorian Season 3, Andor, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and more. It’s also now official: Kathleen Kennedy is going nowhere.
Disney recently hosted its Annual Meeting of Shareholders, and of course the topic of Lucasfilm’s leadership came up during Q&A. One person asked the question that’s been on many minds: Will Kathleen Kennedy remain president of Lucasfilm? Or will Disney CEO Bob Chapek replace here with someone like Dave Filoni? (Filoni, of course, is the mastermind behind The Clone Wars and Rebels. He’s also a heavy contributor to The Mandalorian.) Chapek’s response to whether she’ll stay on can be reduced to one word: Yes.
Kathleen Kennedy to remain President of Lucasfilm
“We’ve been absolutely thrilled that we can have the kind of talent in our company, the likes of Kathy Kennedy…. We look forward to having Kathy directing the activities of the entire Lucasfilm organization for many years to come.”
~ Disney CEO Bob Chapek
So there you have it. Kathleen Kennedy is going nowhere. To quote Obi-Wan Kenobi: “it’s as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror….” Look, I hate to use such overused clichés but, as they say, “haters gonna hate.” Most of the ire directed Kennedy’s way, if you really break it down, has its basis in misogyny. She’s branded as a “social justice warrior” trying to impose a feminist agenda on Star Wars. But…. If you look at the direction in which she’s taken the franchise empirically, there’s little to complain about.
Some of the chief responses to that statement I’ve seen are that “she’s just a producer,” “she doesn’t really do anything,” or “The Mandalorian is all Jon Favreau, not her!” So, to recap: everything wrong? Her fault, because she’s the president. But everything great about Star Wars? Oh no, she has nothing to do with that.
That’s… not how it really works. If you don’t believe that Kathleen Kennedy oversees all that happens in the Star Wars franchise, good or bad, well…. I suggest you get over it. Because she’s not going anywhere.
“Most of the ire directed Kennedy’s way, if you really break it down, has its basis in misogyny“
Are you kidding me? Our ire is because of horrible miss management, sexism and racism and hypocrisy from her and her company. Us so called misogynistic vocal minority will continue to use our voices for years to come. We want inclusiveness and diversity not what we have been getting. You fire a truly strong feminine person in the real world because of politics, erase a character from a poster because he was the wrong color for China and introduce a rock as a character and expect us to be quiet about it? Not going to happen.
I have spoken
And the award for most disingenuous comment of the year goes to…
Yet they will listen to the vocal minority of ‘fans” to fire someone who does not think the same way they do.