Part 4/10:
However, as the series faced an overwhelmingly negative response, Leslie Headin attempted to backpedal and perform damage control. She claimed she did not intend for The Acolyte to be a "queer" show with a capital Q, asserting that critics were misinterpreting her work. This sudden shift in narrative came after several months of enthusiastic promotion, including her own admissions about the series reflecting her queer identity. Critics and fans pointed out the stark contradiction: if the series was not intended as an overtly political or identity-driven project, why had it been promoted so overtly as such?