Disney, Lucasfilm says ‘no’ to more Slave Leia merch, artwork
While the original Star Wars trilogy went out of its way to paint Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia Organa as a force to be reckoned with, the character’s legacy has also include the skimpy bikini from Jabba the Hutt’s palace, nicknamed the “Slave Leia” – a fan favorite.
2012 photo Daniel Logan posing with a “Slave Leia” credit: Brandon Jones
Disconcerted by the stigma and image of the character, Disney and Lucasfilm are ending plans for perpetuating the image from Return of the Jedi ahead of the new film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In fact, Fisher reported told Daisy Ridley to stand firm against future exploitation.
“You should fight for your outfit. Don’t be a slave like I was,” Fisher told her, “You keep fighting against that slave outfit.”
The “Slave Leia” metal bikini, which recently sold at auction for $96,000 has seen the last of its merchandise and artwork days.
Comic book artist J. Scott Campbell, a Star Wars artist in the past, says that Disney is currently in the process of removing any and all occurrences of “Slave Leia” from future merchandise. Here’s his quote, taken from a Facebook thread (via Making Star Wars)
“Daisy Ridley won’t have to fight against anything. Disney is already well on it’s way to wiping out the ‘slave’ outfit from any future products period. You will NOT see and future merchandising featuring the slave outfit ever again. Trust me.”
Campbell elaborated further in another comment, claiming that artists aren’t even allowed to draw Leia in a sexy pose: “Very. I’ve heard it from two sources. We can’t even draw Leia in a sexy pose at Marvel, let alone in that outfit! We also had a 3-D SL statue killed at a major manufacturer because there will no longer be any SL merchandise.”
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy hasn’t been shy about wanting to inject more diversity into the Star Wars universe :The Force Awakens stars a woman and a black man with Felicity Jones leading the upcoming Rogue One. Kennedy also says a woman will be helming a Star Wars movie very soon.
