Star Wars Toy Pulled Over Racism Concerns

Back in January, we reported on Lego's response to racism complaints in regards to a LEGO Star Wars Jabba's Palace toy. The Austrian Turkish Cultural Community had complained that the Jabba's Palace looked similar to a mosque in Istanbul. There were also concerns that the figures in the LEGO set were portrayed as deceitful criminals, and it was offensive to tie them to the mosque. At first, LEGO responded by issuing a statement that the Star Wars toys were based on fictional movie characters and that the Turkish cultural community was interpreting the toy wrongly. However, after continued discussion with the Turkish cultural community, LEGO has reportedly decided to pull the Jabba's Palace toy from their line. According to a statement from a press release by the Turkish Cultural Association of Austria, "We are very grateful and congratulate Lego on the decision from 2014 to take the Lego Star Wars product Jabba's Palace out of production and no longer to have it on sale."