There are two issues here. One is whether the feature should have been pulled. I can't comment on that. The other is the "it's their release" comment.... it may be the release lead's call but that does not excuse them from communicating to the people who are primarily working on that feature about what's going on, what decision is being made and what the next steps are. If there were deeper concerns, those should have prevented it from being in b1 too.

Being a lead means more than being technical. Team communication is key.