Not going to discuss the merits of having Hayden at the end of Return of the Jedi. It's been done to death.
As for the "rumor", what do you think is the percentage of "fans" that desperately need a remastered version of the theatrical releases? I'm curious because I don't see it as large as some here seem to think it is....
And the reason he's celebrate the 30th Anniversary with "his version of Episode IV" is because basically, it's still the same, damn film...cosmetic changes and all. It's still the same film that has Luke, Han, and Leia as the main characters. Obi-Wan still gets it in the end. The Death Star still gets destroyed. The music is still by John Williams. The actors that played them in 1977 are still playing them in the 2004 versions. I mean, it begins the same and ends the same....
Casual fans, which make of the majority, don't have this feverish need to have the theatrical versions of the film released on DVD. When they pop in Star Wars, that's what they see. It feels Star Wars to them.
And even if Lucas were to relent and release it how this "core group" wanted them, the bitchin' would never, ever stop. It just wouldn't. That's the nature of Star Wars fans now. If everything was perfect except for one small oversight that nobody at Lucasfilm caught but some zealot fan caught, all hell would break loose and the bitchin' at Lucas would continue. It just would.
Why should he relent?