14 DAY TRIAL // The cover of the latest issue of GQ Magazine is fronted by Amy Schumer in character as Princess Leia, to promote the comedy inspired by events from her life “Trainwreck.” The magazine also includes a full spread, of Amy in a variety of compromising poses that also feature iconic characters like R2D2, Chewbacca, and C-3PO.
Attached to this post is an alternative cover, which is actually safer than the original one. The spread is available in full at the link above, but to make a long story short, it implies that Amy (as Princess Leia) slept with these characters.
Hours after the photos were released, “Star Wars” fans rushed to social media to blame Disney, which now owns the rights to the franchise, and LucasFilm of sexualizing one of the few film franchises that had not been sexualized yet.
Obviously, no one imagined that GQ and Amy would go ahead with this shoot, which used what looked like solid replicas of the costumes in the film, without getting the studio’s approval first.
Apparently, they didn’t. Disney has been tweeting a lot over the weekend, responding to criticism from fans by saying they were not involved and had not signed off on such a spread. They don’t sound too happy about it, to speak the truth.
“It’s not surprising that GQ would want to capitalize on the cultural cachet of Star Wars, but Lucasfilm and Disney did not authorize, participate in or condone the inappropriate use of our characters in this manner,” a spokesperson for Disney says for Variety.
As of this moment, the spread is still available online, so perhaps Disney’s actions about it will be limited to issuing this statement to disown it.
@patr1ckw @GQMagazine Lucasfilm & Disney did not authorize, participate in or condone the inappropriate use of our characters in this manner
— Star Wars (@starwars) July 16, 2015
@TreeshiaCee Lucasfilm and Disney did not authorize, participate in or condone the inappropriate use of our characters in this manner.
— Star Wars (@starwars) July 16, 2015
@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
@BaldMando Lucasfilm & Disney did not authorize, participate in or condone the inappropriate use of our characters in this manner.
— Star Wars (@starwars) July 16, 2015
@ThisMormonLife Lucasfilm and Disney did not authorize, participate in or condone the inappropriate use of our characters in this manner.
— Star Wars (@starwars) July 16, 2015
@OfficialUSCapo @jstroud3 Lucasfilm & Disney did not approve, participate in or condone this inappropriate use of our characters.
— Star Wars (@starwars) July 16, 2015