Thursday, March 28, 2024

Luther Campbell Won’t Take His Kids to See ‘Star Wars’ Because George Lucas Sued Him

Rapper Luther Campbell attends 2010 VH1 Hip Hop Honors at Hammerstein Ballroom on June 3, 2010 in New York, New York.
Rapper Luther Campbell attends 2010 VH1 Hip Hop Honors at Hammerstein Ballroom on June 3, 2010 in New York, New York.

*Luther Campbell refuses to entertain anything relating to “Star Wars,” and has banned his children from seeing the latest movie in the franchise – all because its creator George Lucas once sued him – and won a settlement.

“Every time I see a trailer, or an ad, for that movie, all I can think is I want that mother**ker George Lucas to give me my money back,” Campbell told Vulture.

The rapper’s grudge pre-dates his 1985 formation of 2 Live Crew in Miami. Campbell was a local DJ going by the moniker “Luke Skywalker.” But Campbell swears the name wasn’t inspired by the Mark Hamill character in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, but by New York Knicks star Kenny “Sky” Walker.

After Campbell became world famous with the 2 Live Crew – known for their raunchy lyrics – the Lucas camp became concerned about the other Luke Skywalker, which was also the name of 2 Live Crew’s label (though Campbell changed the spelling to “Skyywalker”).

In 1990 Lucasfilm sued Campbell for $300 million in federal court, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition.

“I could have settled, but then I watched the movie and I decided to fight it because I didn’t think I was infringing,” Campbell recalls. After getting arrested for wearing a Luke Skywalker logo shirt against a judge’s orders however he decided to “take it on the chin” and eventually settled out of court for $300,000.

“I respect the fact that people love the movie,” Campbell said, though he’s told his kids, ” if you really want to watch that movie, you can buy it bootleg.” But there may be an even bigger motivation behind the boycott than he’d like to let on:

“I like f**king Star Trek,” Campbell admitted. “If you are a trekkie, you damn sure don’t love Star Wars.”

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