{"id":47999,"date":"2022-08-17T12:09:50","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T12:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/academy-awards-apologises-to-sacheen-littlefeather-for-oscars-speech-abuse-oscars\/"},"modified":"2022-08-17T12:09:50","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T12:09:50","slug":"academy-awards-apologises-to-sacheen-littlefeather-for-oscars-speech-abuse-oscars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/academy-awards-apologises-to-sacheen-littlefeather-for-oscars-speech-abuse-oscars\/","title":{"rendered":"Academy Awards apologises to Sacheen Littlefeather for Oscars speech abuse | Oscars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas), the body that oversees the Oscars, has issued a formal apology to Sacheen Littlefeather, the Native American activist who appeared at the 1973 Academy Awards ceremony as part of Marlon Brando’s refusal to accept his award .<\/p>\n

Brando was awarded the best actor Oscar for his role as Vito Corleone in The Godfather, but did not attend as a protest in support of Native American rights, in part inspired by the ongoing two-month occupation of the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre by the American Indian Movement (AIM). Instead, Littlefeather declined to accept the statuette from presenters Roger Moore and Liv Ullmann, and made a short speech, in which she said that Brando’s stance was due to \u201cthe treatment of American Indians today by the film industry … and on television, in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The speech was greeted with jeers from the audience, and Littlefeather, then 26, later reported that actor John Wayne had to be restrained by security guards backstage from assaulting her, while other individuals backstage made offensive gestures.<\/p>\n

Ampas has issued a statement of reconciliation signed by its former president David Rubin that described her appearance as \u201ca powerful statement that continues to remind us of the necessity of respect and the importance of human dignity\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified. The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our industry are irreparable. For too long the courage you showed has been unacknowledged. For this, we offer both our deepest apologies and our sincere admiration.\u201d The organization has also planned an evening of \u201cconversation, reflection, healing, and celebration\u201d, including an appearance by Littlefeather with Bird Runningwater, co-chair of the Academy’s Indigenous Alliance.<\/p>\n

Littlefeather, now 75, responded by saying: \u201cRegarding the Academy’s apology to me, we Indians are very patient people \u2013 it’s only been 50 years! We need to keep our sense of humor about this at all times. It’s our method of survival.\u201d<\/p>\n

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