George Lucas Apologizes for Saying He Sold Star Wars to 'White Slavers'
George Lucas is apologizing for biting the hand that feeds him.
The Star Wars creator, who sold his franchise to Disney for $4 billion a couple of years ago, likened the company to "white slavers" in a recent interview with Charlie Rose. Now, he's backtracking on his inflammatory remarks in a way that has us believing his check hasn't yet cleared.
“These are my kids. All the Star Wars films,” he told Rose. “I love them, I created them, I’m very intimately involved in them. And I sold them to the white slavers that take these things.” Ouch!
Now, the 71-year-old filmmaker has released an official apology for the “very inappropriate analogy" and went on to explain that, “I have been working with Disney for 40 years and chose them as the custodians of Star Wars because of my great respect for the company and [Disney chairman] Bob Iger’s leadership.”
But he didn't stop there. Lucas continued the apology and heaped praise onto Disney for their work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “I rarely go out with statements to clarify my feelings, but I feel it is important to make it clear that I am thrilled that Disney has the franchise and is moving it in such exciting directions in film, television, and the parks,” he said. Lucas ended by praising the blockbuster success of the new movie, and expressing his gratitude for director J.J. Abrams and producer Kathy Kennedy.
Disney, meanwhile, is laughing all the way to the bank. The Force Awakens has been a massive blockbuster and one of the quickest movies to reach the $1 billion mark in worldwide box office. And that's not even counting the merchandise profits. If anything, it sounds like Lucas sold his "kids" a little too cheap.
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(Photo: Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
