Hurricane Ida Crushes ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ Confederate Flag General Lee Car
Actor John Schneider's studios were devastated by the storm — including wrecking at least one model of the controversial 1980s TV icon.
Another victim of Hurricane Ida’s wrath: The iconic General Lee car from the 1980s television series The Dukes of Hazzard.
Actor John Schneider’s studios in Holden, Louisiana, were hit by the devastating storm, leaving one of his General Lees crushed and a second apparently stuck up in a tree as if caught in mid-jump (see photo below).
‘Well… When something like this happens you have two choices: Tears and laughter,” the 61-year-old actor who played Bo Duke on the original series wrote Monday. “I choose laughter. So… What’s your caption? Here’s mine: ‘Miss Ida stopped by to see the General at Miss Shirley’s last night…”‘
Others might caption the photo a bit differently. The 1969 orange Dodge Charger has been an increasingly controversial pop culture icon over the years, given it was named after Civil War general Robert E. Lee and was decorated with a confederate flag on its roof. In 2015, TV Land removed reruns of the show and Warner Bros. halted production of General Lee toy cars amid a movement to remove Confederate symbols across the South.
Schneider defended the vehicle in a Hollywood Reporter interview last year. “I have never had an African American come up to me and have any problem with it whatsoever,” Schneider said. “Dukes of Hazzard was a unifying force. Mom, grandma, everyone wanted to watch it together. But who benefits from division? The Dukes of Hazzard has been shot down, I believe unfairly. We haven’t missed a generation yet, but we may miss this next one.”
Schneider noted he was returning from Tennessee, where he was working on hurricane relief efforts. “I’ll get a real look at the damage to mom’s house in the morning and then head back to TN to continue flood relief,” he added on Twitter on Tuesday. “My request is that if you know somebody that’s going through something like this, then you help them — go out and help them…”
The actor requested help for the damages by directing fans to his studio’s website. Help with hurricane relief efforts can also be more broadly donated to the United Way of Southeast Louisiana or the Red Cross.
