Star Wars fans need to hold their horses as reports of their most disliked behind-the-scenes figure exiting the franchise might’ve been greatly exaggerated. In February 2025, reports of Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy allegedly planning to retire by the year’s end made waves on social media. However, those reports might not be true after all.
A follow-up report has now claimed that Kennedy isn’t planning on retiring soon and fans hoping the President makes way for more beloved figures to take the helm might be disappointed to learn the update. Therefore, the franchise’s fans must wait for any official statement regarding a change of leadership at Lucasfilm. Here is what’s going on with Kennedy’s alleged exit plans.
Kathleen Kennedy might not be leaving Lucasfilm and Star Wars just yet
Kathleen Kennedy was appointed as the President of Lucasfilm after George Lucas sold the company to Disney and retired from his epic space opera franchise Star Wars. Since then, Kennedy has ushered the franchise into the sequel trilogy and streaming era, with mixed-to-negative reactions to projects produced by her.
As a result, fans were happy to learn that Kennedy might be exiting the company with alleged plans to retire before the year’s end. However, a new report from CNN has dismissed these rumors, suggesting that the original report from Puck was likely inaccurate.
There’s nothing there right now.
A source close to the 71-year-old producer and the production company reportedly told the publication about the rumors of Kennedy’s plans to step down.
Furthermore, the source claimed that any plans for a change of leadership will be communicated through official means. Therefore, fans need to hold their horses and stop dreaming of the fan-favorite duo of Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau taking over from Kennedy and shaping Lucasfilm’s future.
Star Wars fans must wait for an official confirmation regarding Kathleen Kennedy’s future
Following the initial news, Variety also updated their report with a separate source telling the publication that no decisions had been made just yet. The source described the initial reports as pure speculation, hinting that Kennedy’s future wasn’t set in stone.
A number of upcoming Star Wars projects are in development, especially for the big screen but have yet to start production with the exception of The Mandalorian & Grogu. As a result, if a change of leadership is indeed in order at Lucasfilm, now is the right time for the company to make the move.
Furthermore, other sources have suggested that the news of Kennedy’s plans might have leaked earlier than expected (via Cosmicbook). The outlet speculated that Lucasfilm likely would’ve waited until April’s Star Wars celebration to make any form of official announcement. Hence, fans of the space opera saga will have to wait for the event to receive any official confirmation.
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This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
