I can't blame Jesse (and Daphne, who was not directly involved in the storyline but was still there); they're actors and they need the paycheck and they don't have the clout to be listened to. I am, however, completely shocked that no one on the creative team looked at the script and went "This is REALLY FUCKING OFFENSIVE maybe we shouldn't do it".

Your target audience includes a huge number of people who remember Jonathan Larson's death and were personally affected by it, how can you think what you did was okay.

Dueling Great Gatsbys would be fantastic, though.