Ninth Circuit Court Judge Kenneth K. Lee Calls The Last Jedi And The Rise of Skywalker “Mediocre and Schlocky” In ConAgra Ruling

John F. Trent |

Jun 1, 2021

Ninth Circuit Court Judge Kenneth K. Lee referred to the Disney Star Wars sequel trilogy films The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker as “mediocre and schlocky” in a recent ruling regarding a class action lawsuit against ConAgra Foods, Inc.

On the 25th and 26th pages of the ruling, Lee wrote, “Under the settlement, ConAgra agreed to refrain from marketing Wesson Oil as “100% Natural.” That sounds great, except that ConAgra already abandoned the strategy in 2017 — two years before the parties hammered out their agreement — for reasons it claims were unrelated to this or any other litigation.”

He continued, “Even worse, ConAgra’s promise not to use the phrase ‘100% Natural’ on Wesson Oil appears meaningless because ConAgra no longer owns Wesson Oil. In reality, this promise is about as meaningful and enduring as a proposal in the Final Rose ceremony on the Bachelor.”

“Simply put, Richardson — the new owner of Wesson Oil — can resume using the “100% Natural” label at any time it wishes, thereby depriving the class of any value theoretically afforded by the injunction. ConAgra thus essentially agreed not to do something over which it lacks the power to do,” Lee added.

The judge then made a comparison to the two Star Wars sequel trilogy films produced by Disney. He wrote, “That is like George Lucas promising no more mediocre and schlocky Star Wars sequels shortly after selling the franchise to Disney. Such a promise would be illusory.”

And if you didn’t think he was referring to The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, Lee made it clear he was in a footnote.

The footnote reads, “As evident by Disney’s production of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.”

Lawyer Ted Frank, the Director of Litigation at Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute and the founder of The Center for Class Action Fairness, who represented M. Todd Henderson in the lawsuit commented on Lee’s ruling and its direct reference to the Disney Star Wars sequels.

He wrote on Twitter, “Also, the Ninth Circuit makes it official, holding that, as a matter of law, Disney’s THE LAST JEDI was ‘mediocre and schlocky.'”