About a dozen Native American actors walked off the set of Adam Sandler’s first movie for Netflix on Wednesday, reports Indian Country Today Media Network. According to Loren Anthony and Allison Young, two of the actors who walked off the set, the script for The Ridiculous Six — written by Sandler and (frequent Sandler collaborator) Tim Herlihy — contained “repeated insults” to Native American women and elders and “grossly misrepresented” Apache culture. The actors especially took issue with some of the characters’ names, which included “Beaver’s Breath” and “No Bra,” and a scene that had an Apache woman “squatting and urinating while smoking a peace pipe.” Anthony told Indian Country that he had concerns about appearing in the film — which is based on the 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven — but was assured the filmmakers would be consulting a Native American cultural adviser. That adviser reportedly also left the set on Wednesday.
Tension on set reportedly began on Monday regarding culturally inaccurate costumes. Young says that when she and her Native American cast members tried to address these concerns with producers, they were told, “If you guys are so sensitive, you should leave.” Vulture has reached out to Netflix for comment and will update this post accordingly.
Update: A spokesperson for Netflix says, “The movie has ridiculous in the title for a reason: because it is ridiculous. It is a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularized, featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of — but in on — the joke.”
Update No. 2: Defamer has obtained an early version of the script for The Ridiculous Six, which includes a glimpse of the kinds of lines that reportedly caused the actors to walk off the set. One example: “Say honey: how bout after this, we go someplace and I put my peepee in your teepee?”
