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George Lucas Apologizes for Star Wars ‘White Slavers’ Comment: ‘I Misspoke’

George Lucas

UPDATE: On Thursday, December 31, George Lucas issued a statement apologizing for his "white slavers" comment. 

"I want to clarify my interview on the Charlie Rose Show. It was for the Kennedy Center Honors and conducted prior to the premiere of the film. I misspoke and used a very inappropriate analogy and for that I apologize. 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 Bob Iger’s leadership," his statement read to The Hollywood Reporter. "Disney is doing an incredible job of taking care of and expanding the franchise. 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. Most of all I’m blown away with the record breaking blockbuster success of the new movie and am very proud of JJ and Kathy."

Original story continues below:

George Lucas seemingly isn’t a fan of Star Wars: The Force Awakens — or Disney. During a candid interview with Charlie Rose, the original mastermind behind the iconic films compared Disney to “white slavers.”

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“I sold them to the white slavers that takes these things, and … ,” Lucas said, before laughing and deciding he better not finish his thought.

As fans of the franchise are well aware, Lucas sold Lucasfilm and the rights to Star Wars in 2012 to Disney for a whopping $4 billion. Since the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the film has grossed more than $1 billion and managed to smash almost every box office record.

But if you ask Lucas, he isn’t the biggest fan of the latest installment.

“They looked at the stories, and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans,’” Lucas recalled of trying to work with Disney on the seventh film. “They decided they didn’t want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing … They weren’t that keen to have me involved anyway — but if I get in there, I’m just going to cause trouble, because they’re not going to do what I want them to do. And I don’t have the control to do that anymore, and all I would do is muck everything up … so I said, ‘OK, I will go my way, and I’ll let them go their way.’”

In fact, Lucas thinks The Force Awakens — directed by J.J. Abrams and starring newcomers Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley, as well as original cast members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher — is too “retro.”

“They wanted to do a retro movie,” Lucas said. “I don’t like that. Every movie I work very hard to make them completely different, with different planets, with different spaceships — make it new.”

Lucas created Star Wars in 1977 and produced the following films in the trilogy The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi

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