In 2015, Adam Sandler’s Western spoof Ridiculous 6 received some negative attention when a dozen Native American actors walked off set over offensive, racist stereotypes of their people in the film.
In 2014, Adam Sandler landed a great new deal with Netflix. The streamer announced that four original Adam Sandler movies would be directly released on the site. However, in 2015, his first production took some hits after the actor, whose Happy Gilmore Productions was filming The Ridiculous Six, had had a dozen Native American actors walk off the set.
At the time, Navajo Nation tribal member Loren Anthony told Indian Country Today Media Network he wasn’t aware the film was laced with racist tropes when he signed on to do the work. He said, “I was asked long 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, who signed on as an extra, alleged that Sandler’s film disparaged Native American women and elders. Anthony added, “Right from the get-go, it didn’t feel right. But we let it go. Once we found out more about the script, we felt it was totally disrespectful to elders and Native women.”
Anthony confirmed that 12 Native American actors quit the film. In response to the allegations, Adam Sandler defended his film, saying the protests by Native American extras were a “misunderstanding.” He said, “It was just a misunderstanding, and once the movie is out, it will be cleared up.”
Adam Sandler, whose comedies have made more than $3 billion worldwide, was paid $275 million for the four-film Netflix deal.
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