The Leslye Headland : Harvey Weinstein : Star Wars The Acolyte controversy

I truly believe my first assistant gig [Miramax 2002] was secured by my encyclopedic knowledge of Star Wars. (Leslye Headland, 2012)

There is no [favorite] Star Wars movie [for me]; there is only Star Wars. (Leslye Headland, 2020)

Contents

What's it all about?
The young apprentice
Then and now
Padawan perhaps?
Woke
Biographical chronology
So, what does one think of LH?
The Sith in me

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1. What's it all about?

As this article was being written (April 2024), the young American woman Leslye Headland (b.1980) was at the centre of a media storm, with numerous YouTube channels, X accounts and other social media outlets railing against her in a woke-a-phobic cancel culture we-hate-Disney frenzy. Why? For a number of reasons, namely: (1) her previous employment with Miramax and close association with sexual predator Harvey Weinstein (b.1952); (2) outspoken championing of LGBTI+ and so-called "woke" issues; and (3) involvement since April 2020 in re-imagining the Star Wars franchise in the image of modern-day Disney - a prominent corporate champion of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) in the United States. Concerns were raised amongst the fandom when, in July 2021, an article appeared in the LGBT+ Advocate wherein, as a result of an interview with Headland, the writer Mey Rude commented that it was obvious that a queer lense would be brought to the Star Wars universe in a female-centric production headed by this new showrunner. As a result, the so-called YouTube "haters" jumped on these and subsequent comments, such that by early 2024 anticipation for the mysterious Disney+ The Acolyte series was mounting, alongside a now frenzied fear that it would be another let down for longtime fans of the Star Wars universe and public at large. It seemed inevitable to those so-called "haters" and their millions of followers that the series would be another ratioed, low-quality, low rating Disneyfied (i.e. extreme woke) production, stripped by Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy (b. 1953) and her acolytes of the kind of otherworldly adventure and emotional heart evident in the original 1977 George Lucas (b.1944) Star Wars (subsequently retitled Episode 4: A New Hope). Outside of this social media bubble The Acolyte production was largely ignored, in part the result of secrecy surrounding it. Final quality, or lack thereof, would ultimately be judged upon viewing, and its rating as bomb or timeless classic or something inbetween emerge over time.

In a galaxy far, far, away, the George Lucas war in the stars was about good versus evil, black versus white, Leia versus Vader; in the Headland galaxy the conflict (no war) was to be about personal perspective, with the goodies viewed as the baddies from the perspective of the baddies, reflecting the proposition that in 2024 sex / gender / identity is no longer simply, and scientifically, male or female (i.e. binary), but rather a fluid, personally perceived non-binary thing, and perhaps even transgender, or other, totally removed from the normal reality. Headland and Disney therefore sought to boldly go where no ~~man~~ one has gone before..... and adopt a non-binary attitude toward the concept of good versus evil. This article, in turn, seeks to understand why such a path has been taken, in the face of obvious danger, and whether Headland is Kirk or Khan, Luke or Palpatine, or a bit of both. Fence-sitting will be attempted by the author along the way.

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2. The young apprentice

Leslye Headland worked for the Hollywood production company Miramax for a period of six years between 2002 and 2007. During one of those years - likely the last - she was the personal assistant (PA) of the then powerful Hollywood studio executive / film producer Harvey Weinstein. Miramax had been set up by the Weinstein brothers in 1979 and purchased by Disney in 1993. Twenty seven years later - in April 2020 - Headland was given the opportunity to make a Disney Star Wars show she had pitched to Kennedy. The subsequent cacophony of opposition to Headland from sections of the Star Wars fandom was reflected in the ratioing of the March 2024 release of her initial trailer for The Acolyte, with an unprecedented 7:2 dislikes versus likes ratio in the order of hundreds of thousands.

There is no doubt Headland brought a lot of attention upon herself due to comments made in numerous interviews since joining Disney, and in connection with her work on The Acolyte. Prior to that, in 2019 she had also made disparaging remarks about George Lucas in regard to his being a necessary element of any Star Wars production or that, going forward, one must adhere strictly to his original vision. At the heart of the ongoing opposition is a view that Headland is undeserving of the task of heading a show in the Star Wars universe, due to a perceived lack of relevant knowledge and experience. The fandom fear of yet another artistic and ratings disaster which betrays the Star Wars legacy is palpable, following on the failures of the J.J. Abrahams, Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015-19) and subsequent heavily criticised Disney+ series such as The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and The Mandalorian season three, many of which were the product of Kennedy's own acolyte, and George Lucas apprentice, Dave Filoni. What some critics perceive as an abrasive, opinionated, woke demeanor - similar to that attributed to Disney Marvel star Brie Larson (b.1989) - has also worked against Headland.

So how, then, does one reconcile the two quotes by Headland at the head of this article? The first, stated in 2012 prior to the Harvey Weinstein revelations of 2017, points to a deep knowledge of the Star Wars franchise gained since childhood; the second, made in 2020 after joining Disney Star Wars / Lucasfilm as a show runner, writer, producer and director, has been taken to mean that Headland has little or no knowledge of Star Wars canon and cannot even name a single movie as her favourite! On the surface, the two cannot be reconciled and the flood gates of criticism have therefore opened. Yet, a reading of the pre-2020 statements by Headland reproduced below, and consideration of her professional output since leaving Miramax, may belay some of those concerns. Perhaps all hope is not lost for the Star Wars franchise to eventually rise, phoenix-like, from the "woke abyss" critics have allocated to it, as they seek to explain the failure of Disney to maintain a level of support contingent with that held prior to the release of the cinematic sequel trilogy, helmed as they were by J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson.

Chris Gore's Film Threat put modern Star Wars on trial during 2023 and, through the Critics Court found it guilty of betraying the fandom and the original vision of its creator George Lucas. In such an environment the prognosis for revival of the franchise has been presented as bleak. However, the arrival of Headland could, in fact, change that. There are no certainties here, of course, just a new hope for revival, based on good story-telling and an exciting cinematic, or streaming, experience, with the next cab-off-the rank - or is that lamb-to-the-slaughter? - being The Acolyte.

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3. Then and now

When Star Wars was first released in Australia back in 1977, the then 20 year old present author saw it three times over a three month run. It was an amazing film and a landmark in pop culture. The joy of that original movie has never faded in the eyes and mind of many. Over the years attempts have been made to replicate it, by George Lucas and others, but in recent years the magic of the franchise has faded, and whilst many of the Disney Star Wars releases are entertaining, some are also less than perfect and subject to heavy criticism for their lack of narrative quality and promotion of a political agenda. In fact, many in the fandom have recently stated that Star Wars is dead, a lost cause. They have simply stopped being excited by the idea of new releases, in the cinema or streaming on the small screen.

Leslye Headland is one of those individuals who has come on board, under the tutelage of Kathleen Kennedy, to make new Star Wars content during a period which is perilous to her own long held, personal dream of fronting such a project and also, possibly, to her future as a Hollywood film maker. For example, already accusations have surfaced that she was involved in the disgraceful discrimination against The Mandalorian star and fan favorite Gina Carano. They have now entered the legal realm and may see Headland called to court to give evidence in her own defence (Trent 2024, WDW Pro 2024). Whether that comes to pass or not, Headland has nevertheless found herself at the centre of the aforementioned storm, and, like many longtime fans, this writer wonders - what the heck is going on here! Should we abandon all hope for salvation of the Star Wars franchise, just as it drowns, like others such as Star Trek and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, under the weight of rejection of much loved lore by a new batch of Hollywood show runners who seek to insert themselves and their personal beliefs into these beloved franchises; or should we stay the course, in the hope that the next will be the best?

On the down side, a recent video by inanimate YouTuber Martin DeCoder has brought into question the actual knowledge held by Headland in regard to the New Republic era in which The Acolyte is set, along with her ability to complete the task as promised and produce a quality product that succeeds on its own merits and is not merely a self-insert, self aggrandizing statement by the show runner.

Why The Acolyte creator Leslye Headland is everything wrong with Hollywood, Martin DeCoder, 15 April 2024, YouTube, duration: 21.55 minutes.

DeCoder's silences are deafening. Yet, despite the social media noise railing against headland, there is a vast, unwashed mass of Star Wars fans and entertainment watchers out there who are oblivious to any negative preamble and trolling, and will just deal with the show on its merits, or come to it through word of mouth, or not.

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4. Padawan perhaps?

The above commentary arose out of the author recently coming across a YouTube video from the Jedi Enclave channel which defended Headland and was critical of fellow YouTubers associating the show runner of The Acolyte with the atrocious sexual crimes of the now imprisoned Harvey Weinstein, and of becoming a mouthpiece for the force is female head of Disney Star Wars Kathleen Kennedy. This is a case which brings up a variety of moral, ethical, legal and workplace environment issues which have no simple solution and remain in play as this article is being written. Whilst YouTuber Star Wars Fanatic was able to brush aside any and all Headland's baggage, others have not been so forgiving or gracious, and have picked at each and every available bone from the playbook that is the eternally rotting carcass of Hollywood fame and fortune.

As Headland's The Acolyte first official trailer noted (here paraphrased), the series appears to reflect her belief that: It is not about good or bad; it's about the use of power and who is allowed to wield it. This would imply that Headland, knowingly or unknowingly, and in an autobiographical way as is her want as a writer and film maker, is once again reliving past experiences and venting through productions such as The Acolyte, as she did previously with her 2008 play Assistance. That play drew directly from her experiences with Miramax and Weinstein.

Being an Australian, prior to researching the present article, this writer knew little about the specifics of the Weinstein case, or details of the crimes for which he was subsequently found guilty. A deeper look revealed that sexual abuse and harassment allegations were made public in October 2017, a decade after Headland had left Miramax and moved on to a career in film, television and theatre productions as writer, producer and/or director. Weinstein was subsequently convicted of sexual assault and rape in February 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison shortly thereafter. Other cases remain outstanding. In a 2019 article Headland is quoted as saying that she was never physically assaulted by Weinstein whilst on the job, nor did she ever witness any incidents, but that she did endure verbal attacks and wasn't surprised when allegations surfaced about him (Dunn 2019). The statement is both precise and vague.

As any fan of Hollywood movies would know, there are many historical references to Weinstein in traditional media, social media, and places such as YouTube videos and reviews. However, fans of Star Wars have, since April 2020, become aware of Leslye Headland as a result of her being appointed by Kathleen Kennedy - during a Disney hiring freeze - to produced the female-focused, anti-Jedi / pro-Sith 8-part streaming series The Acolyte. With the ongoing development and production of that story came the frequent reference to Headland as Weinstein's former personal assistant. Whilst many commentators raised the topic in an off-hand manner, others suggested guilt by association and attached to it accusations that she knew what Weinstein was doing. A few of her accusers went so far as to suggest that she actively facilitated his abuse of women, thereby equating the relationship to that of Gillaine Maxwell with Geoffrey Epstein. Such an assertion remains without foundation. Through all this recent controversy Headland has been largely mute about her relationship with Weinstein, apart from the aforementioned second-hand report of her statement, and there has never been any real evidence presented either way to confirm or deny the accusations. Much of it was simply implied and inferred. And this is where it stood on 2 April 2024 when the Jedi Enclave presenter uploaded an 11 minute and 34 second diatribe entitled The Truth about Leslye Headland and Harvey Weinstein. Therein no evidence was provided to support that click-bait. This was obviously something the present writer was interested in knowing about, if it existed.

The Truth about Leslye Headland and Harvey Weinstein - Mike Zeroh Lie of the Week, Jedi Enclave, 2 April 2024, YouTube, duration: 11.34 minutes.

The fact that the presenter was more interested in criticising those accusatory fellow unnamed YouTube presenters such as WDWPro, Geeks + Gamers, Ryan Kinel and Nerdrotic was what comprised the majority of the video. Whilst that was fair enough, and the internet exists for this to take place, unfortunately the argument fell short due to a lack of supporting evidence, and the presenter came across as merely an emotive troll. The argument put by Jedi Enclave was convoluted, weak, circular and not based on specific evidence. At one point the presenter made a statement to the effect that "Everybody in Hollywood knew what Weinstein was up to" and then stated that Headland, as his personal assistant, knew nothing. On a purely practical level, this is hard to believe. And there is no evidence provided that she knew nothing. Had she ever stated "I knew nothing" - if so, where is the reference to that? The fact that she stated she was never sexually molested by Weinstein, or never saw Weinstein engaging in the activity for which he was imprisioned, is not proof that she was oblivious to what was going on. The presenter therefore did not convinced the writer of anything either way.

Pre-conviction, Headland appeared to be very friendly with, and supportive of, Harvey Weinstein. This is made evident in her 2015 interview with Andy Greenwald, presented below. Post-conviction it was said that she was defensive and opposing. This sounded to the present writer like somebody who either (1) knew nothing, or (2) knew something and was now trying to protect herself and a burgeoning career in the film industry. It was now all about survival. The writer does not know which, and there is no specific evidence to prove either one to be the truth. It is also likely that as evidence comes to light, the issue will then become more complex, rather than less.

"Leslie Headland did not [know]" was a big call by Jedi Enclave, based on no real evidence, but largely on personal opinion. Frankly, that presenter might be right, but it was hard to believe that Headland knew nothing based on what was said in the video. The writer had no opinion either way, but the absence of evidence is not the proof of innocence, or of guilt. The presenter needed to start again, and rather than criticising others, put a case based on real sources and references, and not simply a gut feeling and accusatory statements against Headland.

Yes, lots of people knew about Weinstein's behaviour and did nothing. Why? That is the big question. And it wasn't just men who knew / know a lot and did / do nothing to bring an end to the abuse. It was the sexes / genders / identities across the board. Brad Pitt was one person who confronted Weinstein in 1995 and called him out over his mistreatment of Gwyneth Paltrow three years earlier, and subsequently was an executive producer on the 2022 expose film She Said. But it went no further then that at the time. The Epstein case shows that, with individuals at all levels of society hiding the truth, and very few calling it out at its height. When somebody is being sexually abused, no matter what their sex or identity, it is often the case that perpetrators surround it with secrecy and those who know or suspect do not speak up. Many do, and many don't. In the case of Weinstein, those who said nothing appear to run into the hundreds, if not thousands. Headland was a young woman enamored of this powerful and inspirational figure, working closely with him. We do not know, and may never know, what her precise interaction in this matter was. The Greenwald interview gives us a clue, as does the fact that for a year or so she was his personal assistant. That role is well known - it is somebody who is responsible for management of the day-to-day activities of their client. That is why so many people assume that Headland knew what Weinstein was up to. And if she admitted to that, then she could then be liable to prosecution.

Prior to October 2017 Weinstein was a powerful studio executive in Hollywood and one who could help further Headland's career. From that point on he was a liability and she needed to break her past intimate association with him, at least superficially. The successful pitch to Star Wars was therefore a career lifeline, or so she thought. She went on to state in 2023 that Star Wars saved my life, much to the bemusement of the general public, unaware of the impact of the downfall of Harvey Weinstein upon her, or her long term interest in the franchise. Whether The Acolyte will prove a lifesaver only time will tell.

In order to better understand the complexity of the Headland : Weinstein relationship, and provide some of the evidence that Jedi Enclave did not provide - though Geeks + Gamers did to a degree back in 2020 - a number of historic interviews and analyses are presented below. But first we need to clarify the meaning of woke in the current context.

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5. Woke

Woke derives from the ideology of political correctness and efforts to remove racial, sexual and other forms of discrimination in support of basic human rights and ideas of equality. It is largely a Western creation which grew out of the counterculture movement during the 1960s and subsequently represented different things to different people in different countries. In April 2024 the term woke, as applied in the United States and specifically by that group of social media commentators critical of Leslye Headland and organisations such as Disney and Amazon, has evolved to includes any organisation, thing, individual or group which exhibits one or all of the following traits or practices:

An adherence to specific DEI policies within an organization's employment programs and product outputs. For example, at Disney this impacts upon hiring and firing practices, management and HR practices, and the production of film, streaming series, promotional products and statements by staff and actors, directors and show runners.
The replacement of white males and, to a lesser degree white females, with characters of diverse ethnicity and sexuality.
Race and gender swapping, whereby, for example, a white, red-haired female is replaced by a Black American, as in the recent The Little Mermaid cartoon; the replacement of Snow White by a dark, Latino actress and the replacement of the seven dwarves by a mix of non-dwarf characters of various races and sexualities in the latest version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; the replacement of the all-male Lost Boys in Peter Pan by a collection of females; the presentation of the historic figure of Cleopatra - a white Macedonian - as Black in a Netflix documentary; and the replacement of male superheroes by female superheros as in The Marvels.
The replacement of male lead actors with female "strong women" characters who primarily exhibit male traits.
Inclusion of transgender individuals in a tokenistic manner, emphasising sexual identity over character, as in the 2024 version of Doctor Who.
Attaching the word phobe to anyone critical of aspects of the agenda.
Aggressive cancelling of critics.
Support for equity over equality.
Emphasising identity politics over narrative integrity and individual experiences and talents.
Straying from lore and tradition to "re-imagine" and remake previous productions which include many of the above elements, for example as in the recent Amazon series Rings of Power whose main character is a girl-boss superhero version of Galadrial which is not true to the original characterization by J.R.R. Tolkien in his The Lord of the Rings.

It has been stated by many critics of the woke agenda that it is a political movement of the Left - though it has been adopted and supported across the political spectrum, including amongst Conservatives - and that it seeks to indoctrinate all ages, from young children in primary schools and upwards. It is said that, in an effort to be anti-discriminatory and non-racist, the woke agenda has in fact become a purveyor and promoter of discrimination and racism. The practice is therefore open to criticism on many levels, and to rejection on as wide scale, as is evident by the epithet "Go woke, go broke" to reflect the harsh reality of the failure of audiences to support many of the films, television series, books, toys and other products which reflect so-called woke practices and ideals.

As noted above, the term woke does not have a universal meaning or application. To many people both inside and outside of the United States it still has a positive meaning relating to the political correctness origins and attachment to anti-discriminatory practices. Unfortunately, this disparity is not easily recognised and as a result some of the statements and actions both in support and in opposition are virulent, aggressive, violent and suggest no simple point of concensus will readily be achieved. The true-believer crusaders on both sides will stay the course until forced otherwise. Leslye Headland will likely remain an anti-woke target as Hollywood adapts to both the social and economic factors which ultimately determine its sustainability.

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6. Chronology

The following is a combined chronological listing of biographical notes and references to incidents in the life of Leslye Headland, alongside interviews and commentary on her work. It adds colour and texture to the evolving portrait of Headland as pariah currently floating around the social media zeitgeist.

1980

* 26 November - Leslye Headland is born in Los Angeles, California.

1988

* A guest blog from 2012 by Leslye Headland entitled Growing Up Cinephile (The Film Experience, 25 August 2012) discusses her early childhood from about the age of 8, young adulthood and the importance of movies due to the social isolation imposed upon her during her youth in Los Angeles by her strictly religious parents.

Growing Up Cinephile

When preparing for this guest blog, I thought about what I would’ve written about if I were guest blogging seven years ago as my blogger alter ego, Arden. Most likely I would’ve wanted to get super nerdy and introspective so here we go:

If you’re like me, movies are your life. They cheer you up. They bring you down. They connect you to people. They alienate you from others. You develop passionate arguments about the state of film today. You rehearse those arguments in your head then unleash them upon unsuspecting acquaintances during an otherwise friendly gathering. They can get you a job. (I truly believe my first assistant gig was secured by my encyclopedic knowledge of Star Wars). They can get you laid. (My number one turn-on in bed? Oscar trivia.) As Truffaut said, we are sick people. But we weren’t always this way. What happened? Well, if you go back in your life, I bet you can find the most formative years were shaped by a handful of films. I decided to take a look at the symbiotic nature of what I watched and when I watched it.

SENTIENCE!

Love and Death (1975, dir. Woody Allen)

This is the first film I ever remember watching. I slept on the top bunk in the bedroom I shared with my sister. From there, I could see the TV in the living room and would watch films my parents put on when they thought we were asleep. Love and Death was mind-fuck for an eight year old. Absurd physical comedy coupled with Prokofiev? It looked like a grown-up film but it was funny enough to entertain a child. However, all the Bergman references were unsettling. I was filled with joy and a tinge of dread. Later in life, a professor described my senior thesis directing project as “the work of a sincerely disturbed person who has an infantile sense of humor.” I blame Woody.

CHILDHOOD!

The Philadelphia Story (1940, dir. George Cukor)

Rear Window (1954, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

Being brought up in a strict religious home where pop culture was shunned, it was all glamour all the time. No 80s teen movies or cartoons for me (I didn't see The Goonies til I was 27) ... Instead it was screwball comedies, the Marx Brothers and MGM musicals. The Philadelphia Story was viewed so often that quotes would fly across the dinner table. That film had me rooting for my first “unlikeable” heroine. Hitchcock was probably the first time I noticed what a director did and became aware of the camera as a tool. Rear Window is his best film. Economical, succinct, practically a play, painfully realistic yet heightened as all hell. It’s Hitchcock naked.

HIGH SCHOOL

The Big Lebowski (1998, dir. Joel Coen)

Jackie Brown (1997, dir. Quentin Tarantino)

Many people assume from Bachelorette’s subject matter that I must’ve based the characters on my own friends from high school. That is not the case. I was neither cool nor uncool. Outside the action looking in at the nonsense of high school hierarchy. I felt like a spectator, with a wry voiceover. It makes sense then that I would gravitate toward these serio-comic neo-noir entries from two of my favorite directors. Before Lebowski-fests, there was the “E-period Crew” - a co-ed group I ran with senior year. Armed with a VHS and White Russian mix, we spent weekends watching this now cult classic and knew every line. And while all the cool kids bowed at the altar of Pulp Fiction I had a profound crush on Jackie Brown. Probably because it’s subtle (not a word often associated with QT) and, at times, truly romantic.

COLLEGE! (or as CMH likes to call it COLLLLLEEGGGGEEEEEE!!!!!!)

The Shining (1980, dir. Stanley Kubrick)

Fight Club (1999, dir. David Fincher)

Here we enter a dark time. Going to college in New York City would’ve been intense enough but with the 9/11 attacks smack in the middle of those four years, a formative era was intense and harrowing. The upside was that it was also the first time I was creating art on a regular basis. During this period I watched The Shining so many times I probably should’ve been hospitalized. After forty viewings in one semester I stopped counting. To this day, the tinkling of the piano during the Warner Brothers logo on a DVD menu sends a shiver down my spine. Fight Club is just cool and I was lucky enough to see it during it's theatrical run before the ending had been spoiled by many a film nerd. That film set up for me a life long artistic need to make a joke about what’s truly painful. Fight Club began it all with an aggressive no-holds-barred mash note to cultural dissatisfaction. It would’ve started a revolution if music downloads and social networking hadn’t side-swiped us.

LOSING MY VIRGINITY! (Give me a break. I was a late bloomer)

Rushmore (1998, dir. Wes Anderson)

Sex the first time was sort of a let down. I mean, I didn’t love or even like the guy. He definitely wasn’t interested in me. It was awkward, sort of empty and was done mostly to just get it over with. Afterwards, a thick disappointment hung in the room. My deflowerer half-heartedly offered up a solution:

Him: Do you wanna watch Rushmore?

Me: What’s Rushmore?

Him: The greatest thing you’ll ever see.

Watching Rushmore, naked, innocence freshly lost, was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. As the slow motion closing shot set to The Faces flashed before me, I was treated to the tears of real love and tenderness I’d hoped my first sexual experience would bring. Thank you Wes Anderson. You saved Latin. But, for this cinephile, you also saved sex.

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1996

* The Headland family moved from the west coast to Connecticut, just to the north-east of New York.

1999

* Leslye Headland graduates from Staples High School, Westport, Connecticut, and goes on to study at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

2002

* Headland receives a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Tisch, having attended the Playwright's Horizons Theatre School where she also studied directing.

2002-2007

* Headland works for Miramax in New York, including a year as Harvey Weinstein's personal assistant. She continues to write plays and film scripts during this period. She also attends the Sundance Film Festival for the first time as an assistant to Weinstein.

2007

* Headland quits Miramax, apparently upon the suggestion of Weinstein, in order to write plays full time. Upon leaving, she signs a non-disclosure agreement relating to her time with the company and her knowledge of its inner workings.

2008

* Premiere of Headland's play Assistance, which is based upon her experiences at Miramax and with Weinstein.

* Headland's lay BachelorETTE makes the Black List as a draft film version. It is a female-centric, raunchy dark comedy.

2010

* Headland secures her first professional position, as a staff writer on the FX television series Terriers. Her first episode is directed by future Star Wars trilogy episode director Rian Johnson. She become a fan and supporter of his work.

2012

* Headland is the writer and director of her first film Bachelorette - a version of her play BachelorETTE. It is subsequently purchased by Miramax at the Sundance Film Festival - a dream come true for her.

* 9 February 2012 - Interview with Leslye Headland at the Sundance Film Festival, DP/30: The Oral History of Hollywood, YouTube, duration: 37.25 minutes. Headland therein cites The Shining and Back to the Future as her favourite movies, watching them numerous times.

* Aubry D'Arminio, Harvey Weinstein's former personal assistant writes tell-all play (sorta), Entertainment Weekly, 28 February 2012. This interview was in support of Headland's play Assistance. It appeared to directly reflect her experiences in working as a personal assistant / executive assistant for Miramax and Harvey Weinstein, amongst others. Sections of the article are reproduced below:

Harvey Weinstein's former personal assistant writes tell-all play (sorta)

Leslye Headland loves Harvey Weinstein - despite having worked as his personal assistant. And he most likely loves her back - even after she penned the play Assistance, about ill-treated young personal assistants at a fictional corporation called the Weisinger Company headed by a demanding, impatient, perfectionist named Daniel Weisinger. At the very least, the Oscar-courting head of The Weinstein Company isn’t holding a grudge against Headland. The indie studio recently purchased her much-loved comedy Bachelorette (which she wrote and directed, based on her own play) at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The 31-year-old NYU graduate insists that Assistance, which opens tonight Off Broadway at Playwright’s Horizons, is not a tell-all about her former boss, as much as it’s an exploration into the minds of executive assistants - in this case jaded veteran Nick (Michael Esper), kind newbie Nora (Virginia Kull), scatterbrain Heather (Sue Jean Kim), masochist Justin (Bobby Steggert), and cool-as-ice Jenny (Amy Rosoff). The play asks why they do what they do, and why they often do it for so long (Headland herself worked at Miramax and the Weinstein Company for six years). But just try watching a play in which one downtrodden assistant is shoved out of a gypsy cab - and then run over by the same cab - and not think of the notoriously temperamental Weinstein. So we spoke with Headland to see if she’d set the record straight.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You must have known that because of your connection to Miramax and the Weinstein Company, people assume Assistance is about Harvey Weinstein. Didn’t that scare you?

LESLYE HEADLAND: The thing is, the play is so much not about the boss. And when I was an assistant, I worked for a lot of different people. I worked for the co-president of production at Miramax. I work for Harvey for about a year, and then I worked for Arianna Huffington for about a month. It was a job I did for a while. So, it wasn’t like I came into contact with one person and was like, “Oh gosh, he or she would make a good story,” as much as it was like, ‘Wow, why was I an assistant for six years?’

It did seem that you were criticizing the assistants for getting stuck in the cycle of abuse more than their boss for inflicting it.

Yeah, it’s more about the assistants than the boss - which is the No. 1 thing that separates it from the tell-all culture of an assistant’s memoir.

So, it’s the exact opposite of The Devil Wears Prada…

Yeah. I never read the book, but the movie is pretty good. Although, I was an assistant at the time and while watching it I was thinking, “This is really stressful.” I was also like, “I could’ve gotten [Meryl Streep’s character] out of that situation.” I was like, “You can get her out of there in the middle of a hurricane. You just have to work harder!” That’s what I mean: It’s that mentality that is more interesting to me than what is the most outlandish thing a boss can ask for.

Did you start writing the play while you were still working at the Weinstein Company?

Way after. Harvey knew that I was a writer. People I worked with knew I was a writer and they would speculate, “I bet you’re going to write about us some day.” And, I was like, “No, it’s not that interesting of a world.” As far as it being autobiographical, none of that stuff ever happened. I’m so not afraid of it because it’s not true. It’s all stuff that I made up and thought would be funny. Actually working for Harvey was very educational and cool, but it was pretty boring.

Did you base any of the assistants in the show on people you knew?

They’re based on different versions of myself throughout the job. Nora is how I would like to see myself. I felt like Justin at times, looking past whatever was going on with me personally in order to get back to the job. I’ve definitely neglected my own health in order to get to work. But I was more like Heather as an assistant, to be honest. I felt overwhelmed a lot and I couldn’t figure out how to complete simple tasks. I felt like I was stuck in the same routine and there was all this work being done but I wasn’t really accomplishing anything.

What goals weren’t you achieving?

That was one of the problems. I didn’t really have any. I thought I would learn a lot, which I did, and then I was just staying because I was afraid to become a writer. Harvey was one of the few people who was supportive. He was like, “You’re a good writer, that’s probably what you should do.”

You call Assistance’s fictional business the Weisinger Company, but you never make it clear that the characters work in the film industry - or any industry, for that matter.

If you name what industry they’re in, like the film industry, [people have preconceived notions that] making movies is a really cool industry. In this particular story, it’s really important that they’re not making anything and that no one is skilled at anything. I made the direct choice to not only not show what they did, but also for the assistants to not necessarily be the good guys - like in the ways they’re failing at their jobs and all they’re really getting good at is helping this one person.

So do you get the sense that kids graduating from college these days now simply expect to be treated horribly at their first jobs - that they seem to naturally accept the Swimming With Sharks or Horrible Bosses lifestyle?

That it’s a cultural thing now? Absolutely. It’s something I’m very interested in as a playwright. I like going toward stories that people already know the setup of and then asking different questions. Like, if you’re leaving school and you’re expecting to be treated horribly, one of the things that this play asks is: Why? What do you think about your self? Nick and Nora’s fatal flaw is that they think that it’s just being around this guy that’s going get them what they want as opposed to going out and getting it themselves and that’s because the alternative is really hard and really scary.

What was your feeling, then, when you found out that The Weinstein Company had bought Bachelorette?

It was so funny and great. When I was working there, that was all I wanted - I would daydream that someday I’ll be making movies and Harvey will buy them and, and he will want to support me. You know, as coworkers essentially. There’s nobody like him. He’s a genius. You sit across from him and you’re like, “I cannot believe how brilliant this guy is.” So his interest in me as a filmmaker just makes me feel like I made the right choice to move on.

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* Leslye Headland, Growing Up Cinephile, The Film Experience, 25 August 2012. [Reproduced above at 1988.]

2014

* Screenwriter of film About Last Night.

* 16 March 2014 - Interview with Leslye Headland and others re Bachelorette, brooklynONE productions, YouTube, duration: 41.55 minutes.

2015

* Director of Sleeping With Other People.

* 24 January 2015 - Interview with Leslye Headland and Melissa Rauch at Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute, YouTube, duration: 55.28 minutes.

* Andy Greenwald, Leslye Headland, The Andy Greenwald Podcast, 9 September 2015, duration: 62.10 minutes. Concerns over statements made since 2020 against Headland by YouTube presenters and other social media were raised in a March 2024 Reddit thread posted by madsaxappeal. It referred to .... Headland's testimony that Weinstein kept her in the dark and never told her about the stuff he was doing .... Unfortunately it provided no specific reference to that statement. On the thread, a comment by The ElMart is of relevance to the present discussion:

There's a podcast from 2015 that contradicts some of her statements that she was afraid of him. She's pretty effusive in her love of the guy. It's suspicious that she changed her tune after he got caught. The question is really how much would she have reasonably known about his activities as his assistant? I think some people believe it's possible she knew nothing while others think it's impossible that she didn't. The Weinstein talk starts around 37:37.

This refers to the Andy Greenwald podcast interview with Headland in New York on 9 September 2015, two years prior to the exposure of Weinstein. During that lively discussion, Headland referred at length to her close, and ongoing, relationship with Weinstein. It was, in her mind, almost on a father : daughter level.

LH: We are still on good terms, and Harvey is definitely like my estranged dad that I absolutely love and he loves me. But we are also very weary of each other. He is like, "I am very proud of you."

AG: That's because you know where the bodies are buried.

LH: Yeah, yeah.... I'm like "Thanks dad." That's the best way I can think to describe it. It is not contentious, but its not ... I think that especially the truth is, and I think that he always knew this about me, was that I really loved him, and I don't think that someone who is that powerful and that intense can really accept adoration, like the kind of adoration that I gave him.

AG: Unless its coming from Kevin Smith.

LH: Yeah, exactly. Unless its coming from .... Harvey has a big divide between talent and people that work for him. And so I have now been in both of them.... He is wonderful to me, and I think he will continue to be a big part of my career and my life as an artist. .... It used to be a joke when I was growing up [aged circa 13]: "Who do you want to be?" And I would say Harvey Weinstein. .... and so fast forward ten years and I am working for Harvey personally, and he is yelling at me - as he does to everybody - he was yelling at me for something, because I am sure I fucked up some way, as I was a horrible assistant.... and he said, "Why are you even working here? You are a creative person." He knew I was a writer. "Why are you even fucking working here? You are wasting my time. What are you doing?" And I said, "Because you are my hero." And there was this dead silence on the other side, and he was like, "Jesus Christ." ..... He was like "Get me someone .... This girl is so all nerve endings and feelings..." When I see him now, the vibe I am getting from him is "This is like what you should be doing.".... But it was a great calling card, like working for the Weinstein University.... Making a movie is not scary after working for Harvey Weinstein .... nothing is ever scary again... every [studio executive] is like a teddy bear, after working for dad, its like totally fine.... But that's my Harvey life.

A reading of these comments, and listening to Headland's rather frenetic and enthusiastic conversation with Greenwald, puts a different complexion on the issues under discussion. Headland obviously had a long-held deep respect and adoration for Weinstein, as revealed by her comment when aged just 13. It can be suspected that that allegiance remained following the revelations of 2017 and subsequent criminal convictions.

Does this interview reveal if she specifically knew anything? No, it does not. Does this interview imply that she would know something? Yes, as a close, personal assistant to Weinstein and employee at Miramax for six years, almost definitely. But then again, in her youthful idolization of Weinstein, perhaps she would have been blind to any sexual improprieties on his part. Does it suggest that she would tell the world about what she knew regarding the darker side of the man and any sexual proclivities she was aware of? No, not necessarily, and perhaps definitely not as she saw this period with Miramax as an apprenticeship and was there to learn and then move on.

Headland idolised Weinstein, and he probably did not hit on her as she was an employee, rather than the so-called talent. She was also a lesbian, and this was something Weinstein most likely became aware of, though there is no precise date of her coming out publically, or whether it was simply understood, as the entertainment industry in America has long been a safe place for what is now referred to as the LGBTI+ community. She also eventually became a prominent activist in that area. In 2016 Headland married Rebecca Henderson, an actress and producer, with both working on the recent Netflix series Russian Doll. Does this sexual identity impact upon the discussion as to whether she knew or did not know about Weinstein's activities? No, not specifically, though the present writer is sure amateur psychologists could suggest aspects of Headland's identity and upbringing may have impacted upon her actions whilst at Miramax. Also, her sexuality and LGBTI+ activism has frequently been referred to by her supporters and critics as a factor in the recent controversies surrounding her association with Disney Star Wars.

In listening to the Greenwald interview a picture of Leslye Headland is revealed as a somewhat hyperactive individual who speaks quickly, says a lot of things as if constantly constructing a narrative in her head - she is a story teller - and is very lucid in that way. Just as a lot is said, also a lot obviously remains unstated or purposefully hidden. This is not unusual. As somebody who is on the spectrum, the present writer sees elements of his own mannerisms in Headland's conversation with Greenwald. The self-reflective openness therein often verges towards tourettes syndrome, or the milder aspergers. It can be self-destructive, or met with incredulity by listeners. It can also be extremely useful in cutting through the crap and getting to the heart of a matter, or pushing towards a completion. Along the way friendships can be made and lost, with lots of collateral damage for both the subject and those around them. Headland is likely not so different after all.

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2016

* September 2016 - Leslye Headland marries actor Rebecca Henderson.

2017

* 6 October 2017 - the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations are made public by women such as Jodi Kantor and Ashley Judd.

New York Post, 6 October 2017.

* The Red Flag list 2017 - Harvey Weinstein places Leslye Headland on the so-called Red Flag list he provides to his private investigator, concerning people who he thinks might be talking to the media about the sexual misconduct allegations then appearing (Reuters 2020, societyreview 2020). This would suggest that Weinstein knew that Headland knew about his behaviour, especially as some of it took place in his office. There were about seventy individuals on the list.

* Interview with Leslye Headland and Jason Sudeikis, 29 November 2017, YouTube, duration: 41.48 minutes. Discuss Headland's film Sleeping with other people.

* 29 December 2017 - Interview with Leslye Headland and Jason Sudeikis, Build Series, YouTube, duration: 41.48 minutes.

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2018

* Assistance Review. David Mamet Has Written A Play about Harvey Weinstein. Leslye Headland Wrote One a Decade Ago, New York Theatre, 23 February 2018.

* 23 February 2018 - Headland Tweet (subsequently deleted):

A Broadway producer shouldn't be asking an old white guy [David Mamet] who doesn't believe rape is a thing to write a play about Harvey Weinstein. A Broadway producer should revive the one a former female employee wrote in 2008. ...... It took me a long time to realise that an abusive relationship with your boss is still an abusive relationship. And I decided to write about the experience and that realization as best and truthfully as I could at the time. ..... But the reason this makes me so made has nothing to do with my play, and everything to do with the fact that this was the best fucking idea some "Broadway producer" could come up with. Bullshit. Try harder. Support women. Listen to women. Believe women. #timesup - Leslye Headland (@LeslyeHeadland)

* Diep Tran, Leslye Headland on Sin, Certainty, and Harvey Weinstein, American Theatre, 30 May 2018. This extract deals with Weinstein and Headland's play Assistance. Therein Headland distances herself from her former boss and begins to speak of her fear of him.

Leslye Headland on Sin, Certainty and Harvey Weinstein [Extract]

You wrote Assistance, another play in the series, based on the six years you worked at Miramax as an assistant. Has the downfall of Harvey Weinstein been a surprise to you?

Mostly it was surprising because, especially when I was writing Assistance and when I was working on it at Playwrights Horizons [Off Broadway], it was so interesting to get notes on the play. It was the kind of thing where I couldn’t really talk about specifics, given that I was an ex-employee of the company and having signed everything that I signed. I was getting all these notes about, “How do we end the play?” No one said it to me, but what they were really asking was: How do you beat Daniel? [The play’s Weinstein stand-in.] But in my head I was like, “You don’t.” That guy always wins. He bought my movie [Bachelorette] a month before that play opened.

When Jodi [Kantor’s] article came out, I was shocked by the reception to it, because I just thought men like that never go down. I was so shocked and so emboldened by the chorus of voices that brought him down. It makes me so happy - even saying that has been hard for me, because I’m still scared of him, to be honest. And I think that’s why a lot of women still have not said anything. I am so grateful to those women for speaking their truths and for standing up for themselves.

It’s women who brought down Weinstein, which is one reason why it’s frustrating that a Broadway producer asked David Mamet to write a play about him.

That was the real bummer about it. It doesn’t have to be me, but I don’t understand, there’s so many fucking female-identifying playwrights out there who can speak volumes about this - and [Mamet] is the plan?

Assistance also shows the culture that enables Weinstein-like behavior.

One hundred percent. At some point, I’ll probably speak a little bit more, when I have a little bit more clarity about what I can talk about.

When you’re in a traumatic situation like that, you reach out to the person next to you and they become your lifeline. And if that person starts behaving like the abuser, that’s when you start to go crazy and you start to believe all the phony stuff that you believe. You’re being asked to do things and you don’t know what they are - one moment you’re sitting at your desk and the next moment you’re on a plane and you’re in L.A. and you realize you don’t have a change of clothes, you haven’t showered in three days. It’s the relentless exhaustion of that kind of lifestyle.

And you’re being told that it’s glamorous and it’s this awesome thing that’s happening. But the reality is, this is bad. When someone is screaming at you, and a whole bunch of grown men are in the same room and don’t do anything, that tells you something right away about what kind of danger you may or may not be in. You’re like, “Oh, no one is going to stop this person. The only person that is going to make sure I don’t come to harm is me.”

* 2018 - Writer, director and show runner of Russian Doll, season one, alongside Natasha Lyonne and Amy Polter. Released 2019.

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2019

* Kathryn Van Arendonk, Leslye Headland on Russian Doll, Her Harvey Weinstein Play, and Why New York is a 'Graveyard', Vulture, 5 February 2019.

* Interview with Leslye Headland and Natasha Lyonne of Russian Doll, The 92nd Street Y, New York, 7 March 2019, YouTube, duration: 50.18 minutes.

* Taylor Dunn, Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland on show's success and all-female writers' room, ABC News, 11 September 2019.

* 4 November 2019 - Interview with Leslye Headland, GMA, YouTube, duration: 2.48 minutes.

* Alison Willmore, Harvey Weinstein and Hollywood Bosses from Hell, The Cut, 19 November 2019. In this article by Vulture film critic Alison Willmore, part of the Terrible Bosses series, an analysis is presented of the relationship between Headland and Weinstein. The following is an extract:

What makes a boss truly terrible — and how do you deal with it? Vulture film critic Alison Willmore writes about Harvey Weinstein and #PayUpHollywood as part of a week long series about what makes a bad boss, and why we’re so tortured by them.

Leslye Headland wrote a play about working for Harvey Weinstein back in 2008. It was an experience she knew something about. Headland, the filmmaker and co-creator of Russian Doll, spent six years as an assistant at Miramax and the Weinstein Company, one of them reporting directly to Weinstein himself. Assistance wasn’t about the accusations of sexual assault and harassment that would begin emerging and accruing almost a decade later, the ones that would (maybe) put an end to his career and result in his being charged with rape. Aside from a few faint hints on the margins, Assistance wasn’t about sexual abuse at all.

Weinstein was notorious for being a monster long before he became synonymous with the surge of the Me Too era, but it was a “That’s showbiz, kid!” sort of notoriety. Over the four decades of his time in the business, articles and books like Peter Biskind’s Down and Dirty Pictures would recount his nightmare-boss antics as gossip or a sidebar to industry news. Like the time he reportedly decided that an intern would henceforth be known as “Fuckface,” or that habit he had of firing people, for real or for show, on the spot when displeased, or the incident in which he hurled a framed photograph across a room, or his repeated, legendary public meltdowns at his staff when things didn’t go his way. It was the kind of behavior you can only really get away with in public when you’re powerful, but that also, perversely, can be used to underscore just how powerful someone is. It’s a kind of behavior that assistants can bear the brunt of, which is why complaints about it resonate with the recent groundswell of #PayUpHollywood, a movement made up of assistants who’ve been rallying together for better pay, hours, and working conditions. It isn’t part of Me Too, exactly, but it’s clearly inspired and empowered by it, evidence that there are ways of contending with abusive behavior that falls outside what’s plainly illegal.

Daniel Weisinger, the Harvey Weinstein stand-in in Assistance, never makes an appearance onstage, though he looms threateningly over the entire production. (Nor, for that matter, is it ever made explicit what industry he works in. It’s just clear that it’s a high-status one.) It’s a choice Headland was criticized for when the play opened Off Broadway in 2012. “After a while it’s like watching The Devil Wears Prada with the Anna Wintour character snipped from every scene,” Charles Isherwood wrote in his review in the New York Times. But, of course, Wintour was the real, delicious focus of The Devil Wears Prada, whereas it’s not Weinstein that Assistance is actually about. The play explores the psychology of the people who’ve shaped themselves around him, who’ve learned to accommodate his capriciousness and his rages, and who’ve accepted it as a nightmarish sort of normalcy.

As Headland told Vulture in February, “I think what was interesting was looking at how abuse cycles and trickles down throughout a culture and a company.” And work is noticeably, for the characters in Assistance, an ongoing abusive relationship. They constantly try to rationalize the things they’re subjected to - the lousy pay, all-consuming hours, unreasonable demands, and screaming fits - as they white-knuckle their way through with the promise of promotions that seem almost mythological. They sometimes vent, or try to protect each other from their employer’s wrath, but more often they accept it as their due. As a character says at one point, “I don’t need another person telling me Daniel Weisinger is an asshole. If he acted like everyone else, he’d be everyone else. He’d be a nobody.” He delivers this line while sporting a cast because after he was fired and ordered out of the car he and his boss were riding in, the car ran over his foot. He later took the job back, and is insisting to his therapist that he’s the one who was at fault: “I was standing too close to the car.”

It’s a Stockholm syndrome–y sequence that recalls an anecdote from Vanity Fair’s 2011 profile, in which Weinstein apologized for being an asshole on set, and someone responded, “Yeah, but you’re our asshole, and we’re glad you’re back.” Or the way that Weinstein’s brother and business partner, Bob (infamous in his own right), talking to The Hollywood Reporter in October 2017, said that he didn’t do anything after his sibling “got physical” and assaulted him: “It doesn’t absolve me of my own cowardice, but this is the thing that happens.” Getting your foot run over by your boss, as the Weinstein equivalent does in the play, or having a lit cigarette hurled at you, something the real Weinstein reportedly did to then–acquisitions executive Jason Blum, are the kind of things that get treated as war stories, presuming one can weather them, because they’re signs of the kind of monster a powerful person is allowed to be. Or, in some dark ways, expected to be, as though kindness is a weakness and being respectful to people around you is a burden that can be relinquished once someone is important enough.

There are so many different breeds of terrible boss in the world, but there’s something about Weinstein’s particular brand of toxicity, his temper and streak of sadism, that seems particularly central to the film industry. When there’s no obvious path to move up the ladder in an increasingly capricious business, the ability to endure a gauntlet of pettiness and pain can seem like the way of paying dues. And that means that when someone does ascend, they might just feel emboldened to return the favor to those aspirants below them.

Isherwood compared Assistance to The Devil Wears Prada, but the truth is that the Hollywood answer to The Devil Wears Prada came out long before then, a 1994 indie called Swimming With Sharks that was about a fresh-faced young graduate and the vicious executive he ended up working for in what he thought would be a dream job…until he snaps and takes his boss hostage at gunpoint. When it came out, people couldn’t agree on who the mogul was inspired by - whether it was Barry Josephson, or Scott Rudin, or Joel Silver - because there were just too many possibilities. Weinstein is far from the only Hollywood bully. He was just the most prominent example to flame out so spectacularly that people outside the industry took notice - part of a tradition of toxicity as old as Hollywood.

Bullies are a dime a dozen, and Headland is right that the more interesting subjects are the people around them: the people who learn to weather their tirades or submit to their whims, all the while hoping that it will pay off for them in the end, and the people who realize that they’re not going to actually get what they want, no matter how much they put up with. And you can add to that pile the people who start to push back, like the assistants of #PayUpHollywood, and reject the assumption that abjection is the only way to earn a spot in the industry. It’s a reminder, also, that the dichotomy that’s so often presented with these jobs, one of enduring or giving up, doesn’t have to be a true one, and that there’s more to work than the ability to withstand punishment.

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2020

* Reuters, Ben Affleck was on Harvey Weinstein's Red Flag List, The Jerusalem Post, 12 March 2020.

* 23 April 2020 - Headland is hired by Disney to produce a new Star Wars series. She immediately deletes 246 Tweets, including ones referring to Harvey Weinstein.

* societyreviews, Lesley Headland deletes tweets shortly after Disney hiring, 24 April 2020.

* Star Wars gets more WOKE with Leslye Headland, My Nerdy Home, 25 April 2020, YouTube, duration: 10.06 minutes.

* Willybobo, Weinstein praises former secretary, has high hopes for her Star Wars show, Faking Star Wars.net, 27 April 2020.

* GoFundMe, Trans Rights are Human Rights: This is the Way, GoFundMe, 14 September 2020.

* 3 November 2020 - Interview with Leslye Headland, Fantastic Frankey, YouTube, duration: 45.52 minutes.

* 4 November 2020 - Interview with Leslye Headland, Final Draft, YouTube, duration: 45.32 minutes.

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2021

* 23 June 2021 - Interview with Leslye Headland and others re LGBTQI+ issues, Backstage, YouTube, duration: 58.14 minutes.

* Mey Vude, Lesbian Leslye Headland brings a queer lends to Star Wars franchise, Advocate, 1 July 2021. Text:

Leslye Headland is excited to bring her queer point of view to a galaxy far, far away. The writer, director, and showrunner of the hugely popular and critically acclaimed Netflix series Russian Doll (co-created by Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler), is moving on to Star Wars next, show-running The Acolyte, one of the new Star Wars series announced by Disney+ last year. Little is known about the series so far, except that it's a mystery-thriller that follows the emergence of dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era, and that it will be female-centric. And, we know that it's being run, written, and executive produced by Headland, who will the be the first queer person to serve in that role for a Star Wars franchise. But no matter what the series is about, coming from Headland, it will without a doubt be coming from Headland's very queer point of view. While she had seen the movies before, when Headland saw the original trilogy re-released in school, that, she says, is when she really got into the films.

"I doubled down and I got even more excited by Star Wars, and even more into supplemental materials, like novels and comic books, and stuff like that."

She counts Han Solo, BB-8, Ahsoka Tano, and Asajj Ventress as some of her favorite characters. So now that she gets to tell her own stories in this universe she loves, she's excited that she's getting to do the same types of characters she's written her whole career; characters that are normally relegated to side stories.

"I'm excited to do the type of character work that I normally do and pieces that take place in regular-day America, which is where most of my work has been," she says, "I love those types of characters, so being able to explore them in Star Wars is something that I was very surprised everyone was into."

For Headland, nothing is like seeing other queer people and queer stories, and she wants Star Wars fans to be able to do that when they watch their favorite franchise. While she offers no information on if that will be on screen or not, the fact that a lesbian is behind the scenes running the show brings a new level of queerness to the universe.

"In the same way that the original Star Wars film, A New Hope, is about a young man living in Modesto, Calif., who doesn't want to take over his dad's hardware store... there's just no way that me being a queer woman is not going to be reflected in my work. I could try not to do it, but why would I? It just feels like a natural extension of what I do."

No matter what characters are in her stories, all of them are about being queer in some way.

"I think that because storytelling, at its core, is always going to come down to either the personal or emotional through-line to your characters, your identity is important. And like I said, mine is just going to be in my work, whether I'm explicitly dealing with it or not, it's always going to be there."

But that doesn't mean she thinks on-screen representation is any less important.

"I think that you can expect some sort of combination of both," she says about The Acolyte. "You can expect some sort of expression of my own artistic dream and just my voice and what it looks like in that universe, for sure. But I also think that representation both on screen and behind the screen, it's just so important."

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2023

* 9 April - Leslye Headland talks Star Wars at Star Wars Celebration 2023, Star Wars, YouTube, tradition: 9.00 minutes.

* Kristin Myers, Amanda Stenberg praises the diversity in Star Wars series The Acolyte, Blast, 16 July 2023. Text:

The show, created by Leslye Headland, features an all-star cast of Amandla Stenberg, who is gay and non-binary, Jodie Turner-Smith, who is Black, “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae, who is Korean, Manny Jacinto, who is of Filipino-Chinese descent, Dafne Keen, who was born in Spain, Charlie Barnett, who is Black and gay, and Rebecca Henderson, who is gay and married to the showrunner. The diversity is like nothing fans have ever seen in a single "Star Wars" show or movie before, and the actors are glad that many fans will finally get to see themselves represented on screen in a positive way. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly on their Dagobah Dispatch podcast, Stenberg said that it was “really exciting” to see the diversity in the new series. “You see the progress that Star Wars is making across the board in all of the streaming series," she said, noting that fans have also noticed the lack of diversity on-screen and felt underrepresented in a galaxy far, far away. "When it comes to the world of fantasy and sci-fi in general, it hasn't felt like a safe space always for people of color," Stenberg explained. "And it's been a world that I've always deeply loved and been invested in. So to be in any way, shape, or form a part of the wave that is ushering in inclusion and safety for Black nerds, it's my dream come true." This was true for her cast members as well. Jodie Turner-Smith said that the diversity was "definitely something I noticed and was really excited about, and was one of the reasons that I chose to step into the world."Spanish-born actress Dafne Keen noted the different perspectives that everyone brought to the series with their different backgrounds. "That was definitely a conversation we've had on set," Keen said. "It's really refreshing to walk onto a set as diverse as this one in every sense. We've all come from different corners of the world and it's really great to get so many different people from different backgrounds to create this thing together." Charlie Barnett, who is Black and gay, said, “I don’t think I could have ever imagined myself as a Jedi,” before adding, "Because I was not reflected for so many times throughout these films in the past. So to see such a diverse group now, I think it's going be really impactful. It's gonna be [a] cool moment for me for sure, I can tell you that." Lee Jung-jae, who they referred to as JJ on set, talked about how it was not only interesting to learn how to use the Force, but also learn the English language at the same time. Manny Jacinto said that Lee’s casting actually represents a “breakthrough” for the franchise. "If I'm being candid, this is the first time you're getting to see an Asian Jedi," Jacinto said. "It's a pretty big responsibility. Getting to see him inspire a new generation of Asian kids to like take up the lightsaber — it's pretty incredible." Jodie Turner-Smith also went on to praise how “woman-centered” the new series is. "I also really loved that our show was much more woman-centered than what I have previously seen in the Star Wars world," she said. be the person who's leading our cast — it was a very cool way into this universe, and a way that I feel that people have never necessarily seen before, other than they're going see Rosario in an amazing woman-centered show as well,” she continued, referring to Rosario Dawson, who stars in “Ahsoka.” With “Ahsoka” hitting Disney+ in August 2023 and “The Acolyte” hitting the streamer in 2024, Turner-Smith is proud to be part of a new wave of diversity for the franchise."I feel like we are part of a wave of more inclusive and beautifully represented Star Wars shows. So that felt really cool,” she said. “And I felt the importance of that, especially in some of the stuff that I got to where everyone really was excited about what they were seeing and what that would maybe mean for different fans — fans that don't necessarily look like what you normally think the traditional Star Wars fan looks like," she continued. "Because if there's anything that I learned from this show, it's that the Star Wars fan is varied."

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2024

* John F. Trent, ‘The Acolyte’ showrunner Leslye Headland accused of being part of Lucasfilm campaign targeting Gina Carano, Was to participate in struggle session, That Park Place, 2 February 2024.

* WDW Pro, Leslye Headland funded Gina Carano attack according to Elon Musk funded lawsuit: Mandalorian Mayhem, 9 February 2024, WDW Pro, YouTube, duration: 14.53 minutes.

*madsax appeal, Leslye Headland Harvey Weinstein Question, Reddit, March 2024.

* Ryan Dinsdale, Star Wars: The Acolyte Showrunner on How It'll Challenge What We Know About the Jedi and Sith Showrunner Leslye Headland speaks to IGN in honor of the trailer's debut, IGN, 20 March 2024.

* How not to pitch your Star Wars show, Thor Star Walker, YouTube, 22 March 2024, duration: 21.12 minutes.

* Leslye Headland: The Dark Side's Personal Acolyte, NerdWord, 31 March 2024, YouTube, duration: 8.03 minutes.

* The Acolyte - Star Wars "fans" have done it again, Star Wars Fanatic, 21 April 2024, YouTube, duration: 13.30 minutes.

* Sean Morrison, Next Star Wars showrunner confirms Disney is moving away from one George Lucas idea, Screen Rant, 25 April 2024. Includes extracts from Total Film interview with Headland.

* Dave Cullen, Hot Garbage: The Acolyte Ratioed, The Dave Cullen Show, 9 May 2024, YouTube, duration: 5.03 minutes.

* Brooke Barnes, Leslye Headland hopes the Force is with The Acolyte, The New York Times, 29 May 2024.

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7. So, what does one think of LH?

The present author set out at the beginning of this investigation into the basic tenets of the Headland : Weinstein : Star Wars issue with not much knowledge about the two main characters. At the end of that brief research process there has definitely appeared a reason to adopt a more sympathetic attitude toward Leslye Headland, both professionally and personally. As a young, impressionable woman, and at the outset of her career in the Hollywood film industry, she encountered a hero - Harvey Weinstein - and found that it is sometimes best not to meet our heroes. Rather than being a sexual abuse co-collaborator, or woke monster with no knowledge of the Star Wars franchise and no film-making skills, she is seen to be a cinephile, long-term fan and student of Star Wars with a deep knowledge to boot, and with definite and proven skills as a writer, director and show runner / producer. Who would have thought? Unfortunately, in 2024 her brusque demeanor, woke exterior, and girl-power agenda mirroring that of Kathleen Kennedy has rubbed many of the American fan base and culture commentators the wrong way, resulting in ongoing online vilification, as evidenced by the ratioing of the second The Acolyte trailer which, in the opinion of this author, was well done and does not deserve the criticism it received. As some critics have pointed out, this was inevitable due to the buildup focussing on Headland's past, rather than holding back any assessment of the production pending its actual release.

Much of the antagonism is not due to Headland alone (though some obviously is), but also to the two Hollywood heavyweights who have muddied the waters in recent years and who Headland has seemingly looked up to (and used) in order to further her own career and aspirations. Those two individuals are the now imprisioned sexual predator and abuser Harvey Weinstein, and the "put a chick in it, make her gay and make her lame" head of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy. In aligning herself to both on a professional path to film making, Headland has suffered collateral damage. Is she to blame for this? Yes, but only to a degree. And that is the point of the present article, which has also highlighted other elements of Headland's nature - her enthusiasm for the industry and the art of theatre and film making; her in-depth knowledge of cinema and television; her bubbly personality and sense of wicked fun, with an obvious attraction towards the darker elements of the absurd; her loyalty to friends and many of the actors and technicians she has worked with; her commitment to identity politics and the human elements therein arising out of her own sexuality and life experience; her naivety regarding items she sees as injustices, and willingness to call them out; and, finally, her reveling in the joy of being who she is and the ability to love. Like many of us, Leslye Headland can appear as both saint and sinner, and everything in-between, depending on one's perspective. She is no doubt a colourful character and definitely a prime candidate for the social media chopping block.

Hollywood is also to blame here. Headland is not the only person who has suffered, and thrived, as a result of a determination to work in the Hollywood system - a system which has been revealed as corrupt, cut-throat, narcissistic and down-right evil at time, whilst in many cases ultimately producing wonderful content. In order to develop a career in film, she has had to - or decided to - work within that system, rather than go down the path of independent film making, which she also tried. Headland obviously felt she needed to pay her dues and serve an apprenticeship, of which Miramax was an initial step. Weinstein was the Sorcerer - a figure who would push through obstacles, and over individuals, to get a film made. There was both light and dark there, with Headland on the side taking it all in as the apprentice. There are hundreds, if not thousands of actors, directors, technicians, agents and others who have worked within that Hollywood system, aware of its faults and failings, but nevertheless moving on and either ignoring or participating in the darker elements as they rise up the ranks. Headland had real success with Russian Doll in 2019, though it was not hers alone, but it did prove that she had something tangible to offer the general public in terms of providing entertainment. The edginess she brings to her work may not be a good-fit with the Disney Princess brand, but it may work for a dying Star Wars franchise which needs to both embrace and move beyond the George Lucas golden years legacy.

Of course Headland, like so many others, can be accused of not fighting the system, of not publically revealing all she knew and knows about its darker side, whether that be in terms of Harvey Weinstein or the way in which Kathleen Kennedy operates. The Gina Carano issue points to that. But Headland well knows, like many others, that to buck the system would mean the instant end of her career. So, what to do? The only thing is to put one's head down, work hard, and try not to be one of those dark agents of evil. Is Headland an agent of light or dark? Well, that is hard to pin down. It seems that she has experienced the dark side in her life, going back to childhood, and this is reflected in her work, which in many instances tends towards the autobiographical, despite her denials of such. This will also most likely be reflected in her production The Acolyte, as the above quote from the trailer regarding the concept of good verses evil / Jedi verses Sith reveals. But is she an agent of evil? Her purported involvement in the Gina Carano case would suggest so, but only time will tell..... The present writer thinks that Headland is basically a young woman with a driving ambition to make film and who, along the way, has found herself working with the dark side in order to achieve that. She is either a Jedi padawan or Sith apprentice, or perhaps both, though one hopes - for her sake - that it is ultimately the former.

Leslye Headland is an intriguing character. The present author cannot wait to see her walk down the red carpet at the opening of a tell-all biopic - written, produced and directed by the lady herself, full of revealing truths and outrageous lies. What a hoot that would be!

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8. The Sith in me / "All Sith here..."

In the four week lead up to the 4 June 2024 Disney+ premiere of The Acolyte, Disney rolled out a promotional campaign comprising the release of clips and trailers, plus interviews with cast and crew. The first two weeks went well as fans, independent media (not the shills) and YouTube commentators sought to understand what was to come in the show, and hope arose that it would be an interesting, well-written production. Unfortunately, during week 3, anti-fan comments by Kathleen Kennedy and Leslye Headland put the campaign off the rails, such that the following week and a half comprised an anti-woke tirade from prominent YouTube sites and pop culture media. This was not the first time in recent Disney history that the company and its employees - permanent and temporary - have initiated fan attacks. And in all instances it has not gone well, and resulted in significant rating drops, leaving many long-time fans and commentators wondering why Disney, and specifically Kathleen Kennedy, continues to go down that path. The mantra - Go Woke / Go Broke - has proven to be true, yet the attacks continue as the viewer numbers drop and the costs of production skyrocket. There being no point in asking "Why?", we are merely left to ask "What?" What did Kennedy and Headland say this time? In an interview published in The New York Times on 29 May Kennedy stated:

My belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people. That’s an easy decision for me. Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation - it’s terrifying. I think Leslye has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into ‘Star Wars’ struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal.

In the same interview Headland, mirroring much of Kennedy's own philosophy and previous public statements, stated:

As a fan myself, I know how frustrating some ‘Star Wars’ storytelling in the past has been. I’ve felt it myself..... I stand by my empathy for ‘Star Wars’ fans. But I want to be clear. Anyone who engages in bigotry, racism or hate speech … I don’t consider a fan.

Needless to say, this raised a storm of controversy amongst the fandom and on YouTube. Further adding flames to the fire were statements by the actors which reflected a lack of knowledge of Star Wars canon, specifically the one that "Anakin [Darth Vader] blew up the Death Star", when everyone who has ever seen the original Star Wars trilogy knows that Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star. In addition, Headland stated in one of the cast and crew interviews published on the Star Wars YouTube channel, when asked what colour light sabre she would pick, she answered,

Interviewer: If you could choose a colour for a light sabre, what colour would that be?

Headland: (sternly) Red!

Interviewer: Red.

Stenberg: I knew that. I said that about you yesterday.

Headland: (smiling) Really?

Stenberg: It was like, Leslye's is red.

Headland: I always been dark sided.

Stenberg: (gesticulating with her hand in a circular motion towards Headland) All Sith here.

In an interview with Dave Filoni she stated:

What I was interested in examining were the Sith. The Master-Apprentice dynamic. If the Apprentice is craving the Master's power, then at some point, he must recruit his Apprentice - to overthrow the Master. And that is The Acolyte.

This raised eyebrows and brought forth comments that it reflected on her time with Harvey Weinstein - the master and the apprentice, though very much on the dark side.

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Last updated: 1 July 2024

Michael Organ, Australia (Home)

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The Leslye Headland : Harvey Weinstein : Star Wars The Acolyte controversy

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