Entertainment
Academy apologizes to Sacheen Littlefeather, who refused an Oscar on Marlon Brando’s behalf
Virtually 50 years later, the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences is formally apologizing to Littlefeather for the mistreatment she skilled throughout her speech and within the years to comply with.
“The abuse you endured due to this assertion was unwarranted and unjustified,” former Academy president David Rubin wrote in a letter to Littlefeather. “The emotional burden you could have lived by and the fee to your individual profession in our business are irreparable. For too lengthy the braveness you confirmed has been unacknowledged. For this, we provide each our deepest apologies and our honest admiration.”
In a press release, Littlefeather known as the upcoming occasion, throughout which she’ll obtain the apology in particular person, “a dream come true.”
“Concerning the Academy’s apology to me, we Indians are very affected person individuals — it is solely been 50 years!” she mentioned. “We have to preserve our humorousness about this always. It is our technique of survival.”
A number of Indigenous artists will carry out throughout the occasion for Littlefeather, together with Chook Runningwater, co-chair of the Academy’s Indigenous Alliance, and Virginia Carmelo, a descendent of the Tongva individuals who will lead a land acknowledgment.
“It’s profoundly heartening to see how a lot has modified since I didn’t settle for the Academy Award 50 years in the past,” Littlefeather mentioned.
Her speech earned boos and applause
When Brando gained greatest actor for his starring function in “The Godfather,” he was absent. In his stead, he requested Littlefeather, then an actress and activist, to attend the ceremony — and to refuse the award on his behalf.
After the ceremony, Littlefeather mentioned she was “silenced” and struggled to seek out work within the movie business. She devoted a lot of her profession post-Oscars to activism and founding performing arts organizations for Indigenous actors.
Regardless of the condemnation she acquired from some in Hollywood who disagreed together with her defenses of Native People, Littlefeather mentioned she acquired reward and assist from leaders like Coretta Scott King and Cesar Chavez.
“I knew I had achieved the precise factor,” she instructed A.Body.
Correction: This text has been up to date to notice that David Rubin is the previous president of the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences.