American Indian actors quit Adam Sandler movie over names

A group of American Indian actors have walked off the set of an Adam Sandler movie over complaints about alleged stereotypes and offensive names, actors said Thursday.

Loren Anthony, an actor and Navajo Nation tribal member, told The Associated Press that he and eight others quit the production of the satirical Western "The Ridiculous Six" after producers told actors to leave if they felt offended by the film's portrayal of Apache culture.

Anthony also said the script included offensive names for Native American female characters and elders.

According to The Indian Country Today Media Network (ICTMN), a news website, the actors who quit were primarily from the Navajo nation. The film "repeatedly insulted native women and elders and grossly misrepresented Apache culture," ICTMN reported.

Another Navajo actor who walked off the film, Allison Young, confirmed that she and other actors had approached the producers about the jokes. "They just told us, 'If you guys are so sensitive, you should leave,'" she said in an interview with ICTMN. "Nothing has changed,” she said. “We are still just Hollywood Indians."

A spokesman for Sandler's New Hampshire-based production company, Happy Madison Productions, did not immediately return a phone message.

"The Ridiculous Six" began production this month in Sante Fe and northern New Mexico. It is produced by Sandler and Allen Covert and expected to star Nick Nolte, Steve Buscemi, Dan Aykroyd, Jon Lovitz and Vanilla Ice.

The film, said to be a satire of “The Magnificent Seven,” is slated for a Netflix-only release.

In an email to Al Jazeera on Friday, Netflix said: "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."

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press