Amy Schumer found the droids she was looking for but the forces behind the Star Wars franchise are not happy with the comedian. After a raunchy GQ shoot where she canoodled with C-3PO and R2-D2, joined stormtroopers in a kickline, and simulated fellatio on a lightsaber (ouch!), Lucasfilm and Disney made it abundantly clear that they don’t support this sort of suggestive tomfoolery.
The article went viral not long after publishing, and GQ tweeted the link to the pics online, inciting a storm of responses:
.@amyschumer is the cover star of GQ’s new comedy issue and the funniest woman in the galaxy! http://t.co/OAoWx7Fkgo pic.twitter.com/OYpq5oW8et
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) July 15, 2015
The official Star Wars twitter account has been responding to fans with a stock tweet (embedded below) that addresses the shoot in lieu of an official response:
@CPThrio @icecoldpenguin Lucasfilm & Disney didn't approve, participate in or condone the inappropriate use of our characters in this manner
— Star Wars (@starwars) July 16, 2015
Still, one of the universe’s favored sons appears to disagree with the official party line. Mark Hamill (aka Luke Skywalker) knows how to use Twitter too, and offered this tweet in response to the ongoing kerfuffle:
Got excited when I saw @amyschumer @GQMagazine pics & thought she was just cast in Ep 8! We should be so lucky.
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) July 18, 2015
No word yet on how the real Princess Leia, Carrie Fisher, feels about Schumer donning her iconic bikini and stealing the ol’ cinnabon hairdo, but she hasn’t taken to social media to bash it. It could be that Fisher is happy to stay as faraway from the noise as possible.
It seems like the folks behind the new trilogy are being a bit stiff here — to tweak a familiar phrase, parody is the sincerest form of flattery. We doubt that anyone will take one of the biggest movie franchises of all-time less seriously just because of some PG-13 silliness.
Then again, this is Disney after all, and the lightsaber-dildo shot may have been the moment the line was crossed. Disney has to worry about younger audiences, who have always flocked to the franchise, and there are billions at stake here. With that kind of money on the line, people tend to get a little touchy. And no, not the kind of touchy you see in the photos above.
Hopefully this all blows over soon. Neither Schumer nor the Star Wars franchise needs this sort of PR warfare.
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens hits theaters December 18, 2015 while Amy Schumer’s film Trainwreck hit big screens this past Friday. The latter opened strong earning $30.2 million on its inaugural weekend, while impressing critics and audiences alike.
