Adam Sandler Defends 'The Ridiculous Six'
Adam Sandler is finally addressing the controversy that surrounded his Netflix project The Ridiculous Six after about a dozen Native Americans walked off the set of the movie in April.
The actors complained of racist jokes against Native Americans, but, finally speaking on the issue at the premiere of his upcoming movie Pixels, Sandler said he wasn’t trying to offend anyone.
“It was just a misunderstanding and once the movie is out will be cleared up,” Sandler told the Associated Press.
Related: Vanilla Ice Defends Adam Sandler’s ‘Ridiculous Six’: It’s Not ‘Dances With Wolves’
The comedian also called Ridiculous Six a “pro-Indian” movie.
“I talked to some of the actors on the set who were there and let them know that the intention of the movie is 100% to just make a funny movie,” he told ScreenCrush. “It’s really about American Indians being good to my character and about their family and just being good people. There’s no mocking of American Indians at all in the movie. It’s a pro-Indian movie. So hopefully when people see it — whoever was offended on set and walked out, I hope they realize that, and that’s it. It was kinda taken out of context.”
The actors who walked out took issue with reported inaccuracies in Native American culture, a lack of response from the director and racist jokes, with characters with names such as Beaver’s Breath and No Bra.
At the time, Netflix downplayed controversy with a statement, saying, “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.”
The Ridiculous Six is the first film in a four-movie deal between Sandler and Netflix. It’s a spoof of Western The Magnificent Seven. Will Forte, Steve Buscemi, Taylor Lautner, Terry Crews, Vanilla Ice and Rob Schneider also star, with Frank Coraci directing from a script by Sandler and Tim Herlihy.
The film is expected to hit the streaming service next year.
