Part 3/10:
Adding fuel to the fire, even weeks before the show's release, industry insiders and media figures began preemptively framing potential criticism as "toxic fandom." Kathleen Kennedy, the head of Lucasfilm, publicly lamented what she termed "toxic fandom"—blaming the majority of male fans for their supposed hostility towards women within the Star Wars universe. This rhetoric seemed to set the tone: critics and traditional fans who expressed dissatisfaction would be painted as bigots, racists, or homophobes.