The Acolyte may have been canceled, but the Star Wars fandom is still divided over the show – and now the controversy has erupted into a full-on social media civil war. Helmed by showrunner Leslye Headland, The Acolyte swiftly proved to be one of the most controversial TV shows in the franchise’s history; a review-bombing campaign against The Acolyte led to a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of (at time of writing) just 18 percent. Surprisingly, though, the show remains controversial even now, three weeks after its cancelation.

On September 4, the Rewriting Ripley Pod released a viral video pointing to some Star Wars YouTube accounts that, they argued, had “jeopardized the safety of our community & the creatives we love for too long.”

Hello, @TeamYouTube, the Star Wars community would at the very least appreciate a formal response or update in regards to our well documented and pressing concerns about YouTubers pushing prolonged harassment on your platform. https://t.co/xd0L8Pt8KJ — Rewriting Ripley Pod (@rewritingripley) September 5, 2024

The Star Wars Explained team – popular YouTubers and podcasters within the fandom – responded to this by leading a campaign petitioning YouTube to demonetize some of these accounts. Mollie Damon, one of SWE’s co-hosts, shared the following infographic from another source:

I’ve spoken at length about all this in the past but the only way things get better is if @TeamYouTube does something to discourage this kind of content – until then it will only get worse. pic.twitter.com/Y5R3Ds796F — Mollie Damon🎃 (@MollieDamon) September 4, 2024

YouTube swiftly responded with confirmation none of the videos involved breached their terms of service, and that they would not be removed; it didn’t exactly satisfy the campaigners, who had been calling for demonetization rather than removal of content. Naturally, the YouTubers whose accounts had been saved celebrated their apparent vindication – with the exception of Star Wars Theory. Although this popular (and highly critical) YouTuber hadn’t been called out by Rewriting Ripley Pod, he was name-dropped in the pages shared by SWE. He responded with a YouTube video and a tweet.

Trying to deplatform anyone over not liking a form of media is the most vile disgusting act there is. To coordinate an attack like this, taking the innocent and creative life’s work of someone and twist it to slander them to YouTube, calling for demonitizatipn, so that they… — StarWarsTheory (@realswtheory) September 9, 2024

The Star Wars Fandom Is Taking Sides

The Star Wars fandom is now dividing along almost tribal lines; Star Wars Explained versus Star Wars Theory. Supporters of SWE argue that accounts such as Nerdotic and Star Wars Theory are a negative force in the fandom, selling anger and negativity because they know it will generate views and revenue. They further point out that Star Wars Theory’s counter-video includes personal messages from the SWE team and discussions of mental health, making this a very personal attack.

A Tale of Two Channels. One is a morally bankrupt grifter cashing in on hate. One is passionate about a franchise they love. Just compare their most recent videos and it tells you all you need to know. I support Alex and Mollie 100%. @StarWarsExplain @MollieDamon pic.twitter.com/Kep4khJjwI — Brooks | 🏳️‍🌈 (@brookstweetz) September 9, 2024

Supporters of Star Wars Theory, meanwhile, argue that the very principle of demonetizing accounts you disagree with is wrong. They further point to SWE’s desire to be a positive voice in the community, and insist they are hypocrites for being “against” other creators at all. More recent arguments claim the SWE YouTubers are in fact motivated by jealousy.

I have many people who used to be friends with Alex and Mollie now DM’ing me private messages they would all have about me, proving where all this stems from. Pure hatred and jealousy of me. I came into this space (2016) so kind to every SW creator and tbh felt embarrassed I… pic.twitter.com/bhAqWggx4J — StarWarsTheory (@realswtheory) September 9, 2024

It is, quite frankly, a mess. What makes this particularly interesting, though, is that it’s happening in a very specific political context; the topic of social media moderation (some would say censorship) is a live issue in many countries, including the United States and U.K. The current Star Wars controversy is simply mirroring the real-world debate.