UPDATE 12/31/15: George Lucas has released the following statement clarifying his remarks:
“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. 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: In an interview recorded for Hulu with Charlie Rose in November, George Lucas said selling Star Wars to Disney was like selling his kids to white slavers. As Collider.com quotes:
If you had any doubt about how Lucas feels about his Star Wars films, he goes on to call them his “kids” and then says, “I sold them to the white slavers that takes these things, and [laughs]”, before wisely choosing to stop following that line of thought.
Newsarama.com also quotes Lucas from the interview as he talked about his story notes for a Star Wars sequels that Disney wasn’t interested in:
“They looked at the stories, and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans’….They decided they didn’t want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing,” said Lucas. “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. And so I said, ‘Okay, I will go my way, and I’ll let them go their way.'”
Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion in 2012 and has had little to no involvement in the development of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the other upcoming Star Wars films.
You can watch the full, wide ranging interview here: