Uri Geller is "truly sorry" for his feud with Nintendo about the origins of Pokémon Kadabra

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"It's now all up to Nintendo to bring my kadabra pokemon card back"

Kadabra clutching its spoons
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Magician and illusionist Uri Geller has apologised to Pokémon fans after a 20-year-old feud saw Nintendo refrain from using Pokémon Kadabra for the last two decades.

As we summarised in our list of the most hilarious reasons why celebrities have sued video game companies, illusionist and TV personality Uri Geller filed a lawsuit against Nintendo in 2000 for allegedly using his likeness in one of its character designs, Kadabra. 

Geller claimed that the creature's Japanese name (Yungerer) was clearly a reference to his own, as is the bent spoon it carries. Though the case was ultimately dismissed, Geller wanted everyone to know that he had "nothing whatsoever to do with these violent characters".

Now, however, the magician has apologised to fans and says it's "all up to Nintendo to bring [the] Kadabra Pokémon card back".

"I am truly sorry for what I did 20 years ago," Geller admitted in a tweet on his official Twitter account over the weekend. "Kids and grownups I am releasing the ban. It's now all up to Nintendo to bring my Kadabra pokemon card back. It will probably be one of the rarest cards now! Much energy and love to all!"

Talking to The Gamer (thanks, VG24/7), Geller added that he continues to get a "tremendous volume of emails" about the Pokémon, but had written to Nintendo with permission to "relaunch" the erstwhile card.

"Due to the tremendous volume of emails I am still getting begging me to allow Nintendo to bring back Kadabra/Yungeller, I sent [...] a letter to the chairman of Nintendo giving them permission to relaunch the Uri Geller Kadabra/Yungeller worldwide," Geller said.

See what else is on our list of the most hilarious reasons why celebrities have sued video game companies.

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Vikki Blake
Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter. 

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