>It certainly wasn't a fame riding situation.

Well arguably it was, but by her publisher/agent/family. It seems like Lee was taken advantage of so that other people could make money.

A lot of people I think realize this, hence it being a controversial release as you pointed out, but a lot of other people just came away with "Atticus is a racist" and that's it.

I do think the manuscript is an interesting insight into her creative process, but it should have been published as such and not as "the never-before-seen prequel to To Kill a Mockingbird!" It also should not have been published until after her death. The audience should have been primarily other writers and academics—not everyone who read TKAM in high school and has little or no understanding of what the manuscript is (and, more importantly, is not).