Summary: they are white people trying to navigate the leftist gauntlet.

If they had not branched out from straight white characters, they would have been accused of racism. You can't simply exist as a successful troupe of white performers.

When they did branch out from straight white characters, they were accused of appropriation and colonialism. Doesn't matter that they hired consultants and said all the right things. As a white person, you are not permitted to depict non-whites.

When they spent an entire eight episode series letting new players "of color" take over the show, no one watched. Because Mercer and his friends are clearly the draw.

This is what happens when you court a woke leftist audience. They're always looking for an anti-white angle, and eventually they'll find one.