Following a 20-year legal dispute, famed illusionist Uri Geller has granted Nintendo and The Pokémon Company International permission to begin printing Kadabra Pokémon cards again."I am truly sorry for what I did 20 years ago," Geller, 73, wrote in a post to Twitter in response to an article at The Gamer website. "Kids and grownups I am releasing the ban. It's now all up to Nintendo to bring my Kadabra Pokémon card back. It will probably be one of the rarest cards now! Much energy and love to all!"
Geller is an illusionist and self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark spoon-bending routine. 20 years ago in November of 2000, Geller sued Nintendo for £60 million GBP over the Pokémon species known as Kadabra, claiming it to be an unauthorized parody of him.
Notably, Kadabra is a Psychic-type Pokémon known for carrying around a spoon, which it bends with its mind in a manner reminiscent of Geller's illusions. Additionally, Kadabra's name in Pokémon's native Japanese is Yungeraa, which Geller said sounded similar to his name, pointing out that the Japanese katakana for the Pokémon's name was also visually similar to the katakana for his own name when translated into Japanese. Geller also alleged that the star on Kadabra's forehead and the lightning patterns on its stomach borrowed from symbolism used by Nazi Germany, which he took offense to as well. "Nintendo turned me into an evil, occult Pokémon character. Nintendo stole my identity by using my name and my signature image," he said. The illusionist ultimately won the lawsuit. However, while Nintendo admitted that Kadabra was partially based on Geller, the company stressed that the Pokémon's English name had nothing to do with him and that its design was not associated with Nazis in any way.
As a result of the lawsuit, Kadabra (which is part of a three-Pokémon evolutionary chain, evolving from Abra and evolving into Alakazam) has essentially been banned from appearing in the Pokémon Trading Card Game for the better part of two decades, with the most recent Kadabra card being released as part of the Skyridge set in 2003. Kadabra has also not appeared in the Pokémon anime since 2005, save for a brief cameo in 2012's Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice. In 2003, Pokémon anime director Masamitsu Hidaka confirmed Kadabra would not be used for another Pokémon trading card until some sort of agreement with Geller was reached -- and it looks like that day has finally come.
Source: The Gamer, Twitter\@TheUriGeller