LOS ANGELES — Nearly two years after its controversial cancellation, Star Wars: The Acolyte has made a surprising return to Disney+’s Top 10 TV shows chart in the United States, climbing to No. 9 and sparking renewed fan conversations about the polarizing High Republic-era series.

According to FlixPatrol data for April 22, 2026, the eight-episode first season re-entered the platform’s rankings amid strong performance from the new Star Wars series Maul — Shadow Lord, which currently sits atop both overall and TV charts. Industry observers suggest algorithmic recommendations and renewed curiosity are driving viewers back to the 2024 show, long after most assumed its streaming moment had passed.

The Acolyte premiered on Disney+ in June 2024 to significant fanfare as the first live-action Star Wars series set in the High Republic era, roughly a century before the Skywalker Saga. Created by Leslye Headland, it followed a former Padawan investigating a series of crimes that uncovered a rising dark side threat. The show earned a respectable 79% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes but faced intense audience backlash, finishing with a 37% audience score amid accusations of review bombing and debates over its handling of Jedi lore and diverse casting.

Despite a strong debut with 4.8 million views on day one and 11.1 million in its first five days — Disney+’s biggest series premiere of 2024 at the time — viewership dropped sharply in subsequent weeks. Disney canceled the series in August 2024, citing high production costs relative to viewership performance. Co-chairman Alan Bergman later noted the numbers “weren’t where we needed them to be.”

Yet the show has never fully disappeared from cultural conversations. In 2024, it ranked as the second-most-watched Disney+ original with 2.7 billion minutes viewed, behind only Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Its lingering presence, combined with the current Star Wars content wave including Maul — Shadow Lord, appears to be fueling this unexpected resurgence.

Fan reactions on social media range from celebration to skepticism. Supporters argue the return validates the series’ quality and calls for a potential revival, while critics dismiss the ranking as algorithmic noise rather than genuine renewed interest. Many point out that FlixPatrol tracks chart position rather than total minutes viewed, so the data does not necessarily indicate a massive surge in new watchers.

The timing coincides with broader Star Wars momentum on Disney+. Recent releases and anniversary discussions have kept the franchise visible, potentially exposing newer subscribers to The Acolyte through “because you watched” recommendations. Some viewers report rewatching the season with fresh eyes, appreciating its bold storytelling choices away from the Skywalker focus.

Industry analysts see the re-emergence as a reminder of how streaming catalogs can deliver long-tail value. Even canceled shows can generate ongoing engagement years later, especially within massive franchises like Star Wars. However, this does not typically translate into revival prospects, as Disney has shown little appetite for resurrecting high-cost projects with mixed reception.

The Acolyte’s story remains one of the most divisive in recent Star Wars television history. Praised by some for its fresh perspective, diverse cast and mystery-thriller tone, it drew sharp criticism from others over pacing, character decisions and perceived deviations from established lore. The discourse often extended beyond the show itself into larger culture war debates.

For Disney+, the quiet return offers a small win in catalog performance. The platform continues investing heavily in Star Wars content, with multiple series in development and theatrical films on the horizon. Whether The Acolyte’s chart appearance leads to any meaningful long-term boost remains uncertain.

Star Wars fans have mixed feelings about potential revivals. While some petitioned for a second season immediately after cancellation, others believe the franchise benefits from focusing forward rather than revisiting polarizing entries. Headland and the cast have occasionally reflected on the experience positively in interviews, expressing pride in what they created.

As The Acolyte sits comfortably in the Top 10 again, it serves as a case study in streaming longevity. Cancelation does not always mean erasure, especially in a franchise with such dedicated fans. The show’s return highlights how algorithms, timing and adjacent content can breathe new life into older titles.

For now, viewers have the opportunity to revisit or discover The Acolyte on Disney+ while the franchise pushes into new territory. Whether this resurgence sparks meaningful renewed interest or remains a brief algorithmic blip will become clearer in the coming weeks as charts evolve.

The unexpected chart return of a canceled Star Wars series two years later proves that in streaming, stories — and controversies — rarely stay buried for long. As fans debate its merits once more, The Acolyte reminds audiences that the Force, and Disney+ recommendations, work in mysterious ways.

FIRST ON FOX – The U.S. Small Business Association referred 562,000 suspected fraudulent loans totaling over $22.2 billion to the U.S. Department of Treasury for collections, the SBA said in a Friday statement. 

“From Day One, the Trump SBA has worked tirelessly to crack down on billions in pandemic-era fraud that the Biden Administration forgave or ignored,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

The loans, largely stemming from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the COVID Economic Injury Disaster loan program, were flagged for suspected fraud during former President Joe Biden’s administration but never sent to Treasury for collections, the SBA said in its statement. 

The SBA accused former President Joe Biden of deliberately protecting suspected fraudsters by refusing to refer them to Treasury.

“For years, the Biden Administration shielded these borrowers from debt collectors as part of a de facto amnesty scheme – but today, they will finally face accountability. The SBA is deeply grateful to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for its partnership in this historic action, and we look forward to continued collaboration as we work to claw back stolen taxpayer dollars and hold fraudsters accountable,” Loeffler said.

Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the US Small Business Administration (SBA), left, and Scott Bessent, US treasury secretary, during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Ap (Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

In addition to referring the loans to Treasury, the SBA has also referred the borrowers to the U.S. Department of Justice. 

The SBA is legally required to refer delinquent debts to Treasury but, according to the SBA announcement, none of the 560,000 borrowers had been compelled to repay the $22.2 billion they owed and less than 1,000 were facing investigations from the SBA’s Office of Inspector General. 

“Over $22 billion. We mean business. If you commit fraud, we will find you,” a senior White House official told Fox News Digital.

FEDS MISTAKENLY GAVE AWAY $692M IN DUPLICATE PPP LOANS

The effort to refer the loans and seek repayment from the borrowers is being led by the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which is helmed by Vice President JD Vance and Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson. 

“Finding and going after these billions of dollars was only possible with the task force’s whole of government effort. The Vice President is proud of the several milestones the task force has already achieved, and it’s only the beginning,” a spokesperson for Vance told Fox News Digital.

The sweeping fraud referrals are part of a broader anti-graft push overseen by Vance and his task force. In conjunction with the task force, the SBA is now pinpointing a wide swath of potential pandemic loan fraud.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance (C) speaks during a Fraud Task Force meeting in the Indian Treaty Room at the White House on March 27, 2026, in Washington, DC. Vice President JD Vance held the Fraud Task Force Meeting with aims to reduce federal spendin (Heather Diehl/Getty Images / Getty Images)

LOEFFLER TARGETS $50B SBA PROGRAM THAT HAS ‘NEVER BEEN LOOKED AT,’ BANS 112K-PLUS COVID LOAN FRAUDSTERS

“Research findings show over 1,000,000 suspicious Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans,” Vance wrote in a memo on the first day of his task force.

The administration estimates that of the $1.2 trillion in PPP and EIDL loans the SBA approved between 2020-2021, at least $200 billion is fraudulent, the agency wrote in its Friday memo.

The task force, led by Vice President JD Vance, is seeking to target federal benefits fraud, intensifying the administration’s oversight of federal funds in Democratic-led states. (Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The SBA has launched new measures to crack down on fraud, including citizenship and birthdate verifications and a state-by-state investigation into fraudsters, according to an early April memo. 

The agency has already suspended nearly 112,000 borrowers suspected of obtaining fraudulent loans in California and Minnesota.

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Fox News Digital contacted the Department of the Treasury, the Small Business Association, and the Federal Trade Commission for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Q1 2026 Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Also note that this call is being recorded on Thursday, April 23, 2026. And I would like to turn the conference over to General Counsel, Greg Seward. Please go ahead, sir.

Gregory Seward
General Counsel

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Live Oak’s First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. We are webcasting live over the Internet, and this call is being recorded. To access the call over the Internet and review the presentation materials that we will reference on the call, please visit our website at investor.liveoak.bank and go to the Events and Presentations tab for supporting materials. Our earnings release is also available on our website.

Before we get started, I would like to caution you that we may make forward-looking statements during today’s call that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are detailed in the materials accompanying this call and in our SEC filings. We do not undertake to update the forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that may arise after the date of today’s call. Information about any non-GAAP financial measures referenced, including reconciliation of those measures to GAAP measures, can

Powell’s term is nearing its end and the US Senate is currently considering Trump’s nominee for his replacement, Kevin Warsh. A key Republican, Thom Tillis, had withheld his support for the nomination unless the Trump administration dropped its investigation.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced Friday she directed her office to close its investigation into the Federal Reserve over a building project.

Pirro said the Fed’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, would instead take over the investigation, moving it from the hands of federal prosecutors into those of a longtime government watchdog. The move relieves pressure on the central bank amid its fight over a possible leadership change in mid-May, when chairman Jerome Powell’s term is set to end.

“This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns – in the billions of dollars – that have been borne by taxpayers,” Pirro wrote on X. “The IG has the authority to hold the Federal Reserve accountable to American taxpayers. I expect a comprehensive report in short order and am confident the outcome will assist in resolving, once and for all, the questions that led this office to issue subpoenas.”

U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro holds a press conference at in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 12, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry,” Pirro said, adding that she would “not hesitate” to reopen a criminal investigation “should the facts warrant doing so.”

Pirro’s comments come after Powell revealed in a video announcement in January that the Department of Justice had opened an investigation into the Fed, calling it an unprecedented attempt to use “intimidation” to force him to lower interest rates.

The investigation had encountered a roadblock after Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., blocked the department from subpoenaing the Fed.

US President Donald Trump signals the end of ceremony after announcing Jerome Powell as nominee for Chairman of the Federal Reserve in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov. 2, 2017. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

In the lead-up to the probe, Trump and Powell’s relationship had grown increasingly rocky, as Trump became frustrated over interest rates and began targeting Powell, whom he nominated in 2017. Trump called Powell a “fool” and demanded in March that he drop rates “immediately.”

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Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, had vowed to block Kevin Warsh’s confirmation because of the DOJ’s investigation, after Trump nominated Warsh to replace Powell, whose term was set to expire on May 15.

Tillis, who is retiring, had claimed the DOJ’s investigation was political and accused Pirro in February of seeking “brownie points” with Trump by opening it. “It’s not cute,” Tillis had said.

During his confirmation hearing this week, Tillis told Warsh, who previously served on the Fed’s Board of Governors, that he had “extraordinary credentials” but that he could not vote to advance his nomination in the Senate because of the federal investigation.

Fox News Digital reached out to Tillis about Pirro’s announcement.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.