George Lucas apologizes for comparing Disney to ‘white slavers’

Star Wars creator and former director George Lucas has apologized for comparing Disney to "white slavers" in an interview he did with CBS' Charlie Rose.

“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," Lucas said in a statement regarding his comments (via Deadline).

"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. 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.”

Lucas' updated statement is in contrast with his comments made during the interview, in which he discussed the difficulty of breaking apart from the Star Wars franchise. "These are my kids. I loved them, I created them, I"m very intimately involved with them and I sold them to the white slavers that take these things…" Lucas said before realizing he had made a poor analogy and laughing it off (around 50 minutes in the video above).

During the interview, Lcuas also expanded upon comments he made in November, when he revealed he didn't see eye-to-eye with Disney about the future of Star Wars.

“They wanted to do a retro movie. I don’t like that,” Lucas told Rose. “Every movie, I worked very hard to make them different. I made them completely different—different planets, different spaceships to make it new.” Lucas did, however, refer to The Force Awakens' director J.J. Abrams as a "good director" and "good friend."

Abrams has been widely praised for re-energizing the Star Wars franchise, despite some criticism that perhaps The Force Awakens was a little bit too safe, following a similar story arc to that of Episode IV: A New Hope. Regardless, it seems most fans have enjoyed the, what feels like a soft reboot, and are eager to see what will happen next in the new trilogy.