10 Biggest Pokémon Controversies
8. Uri Geller Sues Kadabra
This one’s just plain weird.
Uri Geller has made a career out of being a shyster; famously claiming to be one of Michael Jackson’s closest friends when in fact they’d only had a few brief encounters and having his psychic abilities repeatedly debunked. Despite all this, his lawsuit against Kadabra may be the most bizarre.
Geller claimed the psychic Pokémon was based on his image, and sued for $60 million. This claim relied on the fact that Kadabra is holding a spoon, with spoon bending being one of Geller’s signature acts, as well as the star and zigzags.
Claiming the latter elements were racist references to his Jewish faith (zigzags as a reference to the Nazi SS), the Pokémon company responded that it was a regular star, not a Star of David, that the symbols were common on mystical Zener cards, and that Geller wasn’t exactly big in Japan.
Undeterred, Geller claimed "Nintendo turned me into an evil, occult character. Nintendo stole my identity by using my name and my signature image."
Until the case is decided one way or the other, Kadabra no longer features on the cards or on TV, though it’s still in the games.