The 'Dukes of Hazzard' General Lee car is displayed at the Barris Star Car Collection Auction at the Petersen Automotive Museum on May 13, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
The 1969 Dodge Charger from “The Dukes of Hazzard,” known to the world as the General Lee, prominently features the Confederate flag on its roof in the popular 1970s-1980s TV show. Some reports now say the flag will be removed from certain toy versions of the car, and at least one former “Dukes” cast member tells TODAY he’s furious.
Exactly what products might be altered isn’t clear. As reported by ScreenCrush, a poster to HobbyTalk.com’s message board wrote there that he was told by a sales rep for the Tomy toy company that “starting January 1, 2013 all Dukes of Hazzard General Lee vehicles will not be allowed to be produced with the Confederate flag on the top of the vehicle. This directive has been passed onto us from the licensor Warner Brothers.”
When contacted for comment by TODAY, a Warner Bros. Consumer Products spokesperson would say only, “Creative changes have not been made to the look of the collectible, die-cast version of the General Lee vehicle featured in the “Dukes of Hazzard” TV series.”
No clarification was offered on whether products other than die-cast versions of the car would be altered.
Although the report still hasn’t been confirmed, HobbyTalk readers had no trouble believing it. Wrote one, “Not surprising. They have been removing the image from the model boxes for years. I have one that was a giveaway from the Kansas City Royals that has the Royals logo on the trunk and no roof flag.”
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