Gora pakora SME is a bit harsh

So I am leading a project but before its finalisation it should go through different stakeholders for their input. One of the SMEs has rejected the part of work I sent to them. My manager also said they are looking to make it leaner - but in reality it is only going lengthier or similar. How do I tell my boss it is almost the same and we could have saved alot of time spent on duplicate work done by the SME?? SME just want to press on their importance because I refused their “offer” of help. Honestly, that requirement was not rocket science and there was no need their for an individual one on one. I had to get 8 times of it done and timelines are aggressive