Native Americans who quit Sandler film speak out
Two of the Native American actors who quit Adam Sandler's new comedy western The Ridiculous Six have taken to social media to explain their actions, insisting they weren't amused by the script.
Reports suggest as many as 10 actors and the film's cultural advisor walked off the set on Wednesday (22Apr15), citing bad Apache jokes and disrespectful plotlines.
Producers have defended Sandler, insisting the actors simply failed
to get the joke but now one of the Native Americans who signed on
for the film, Loren Anthony, says, "I was asked a long time ago to
do some work on this and I wasn't down for it. Then they told me it
was going to be a comedy, but it would not be racist. So I agreed
to it but on Monday things started getting weird on the set."
Anthony and others reportedly took offence to a series of
stereotypes and female characters with names like Beaver's Breath
and No Bra.
Actress Goldie Tom says, "I felt this was all really disrespectful.
Our costumes did not portray Apache people. The consultant, Bruce,
spoke to the crew and told them we should not have braids and
chokers and he was very disappointed.
"He asked to speak with Adam Sandler. We talked to the producers
about other things in the script and they said, 'It's in the script
and we are not going to change it'. Overall, we were just treated
disrespectfully, they spoke down to us and treated everyone with
strong tones."
Following the walk-out, a spokesman for Netflix, which will
exclusively stream the film, defended writer/director and star
Sandler, stating, "The movie has ridiculous in the title for a
reason - because it is ridiculous... and the cast is not only part
of, but in on, the joke."