Academy Apologises To Actress Sacheen Littlefeather After 50 Years; Find Out Why

The
Academy
has
always
been
in
the
news
for
various
reasons.
In
1973,
the
organisers
mistreated
native
American
actress
and
activist
Sacheen
Littlefeather
for
her
speech
at
the
Oscars
that
year.
And
now,
after
almost
50
years,
The
Academy
has
formally
apologised
to
the
actress.

For
the
unversed,
Sacheen
Littlefeather
was
present
at
the
event
on
behalf
of
actor
Marlon
Brando,
who
was
going
to
be
awarded
the
Best
Actor
award
for
his
performance
in

The
Godfather.
Littlefeather
had
said
in
her
speech,
that
she
was
declining
the
award
for
the
treatment
of
‘American
Indians
today
by
the
film
industry.’

Sacheen
Littlefeather’s
full
speech
read,
“Hello.
My
name
is
Sacheen
Littlefeather.
I’m
Apache
and
I
am
president
of
the
National
Native
American
Affirmative
Image
Committee.
I’m
representing
Marlon
Brando
this
evening
and
he
has
asked
me
to
tell
you
in
a
very
long
speech,
which
I
cannot
share
with
you
presently
because
of
time
but
I
will
be
glad
to
share
with
the
press
afterwards,
that
he
very
regretfully
cannot
accept
this
very
generous
award.
And
the
reasons
for
this
being
are
the
treatment
of
American
Indians
today
by
the
film
industry
–
excuse
me
–
and
on
television
in
movie
reruns,
and
also
with
recent
happenings
at
Wounded
Knee.
I
beg
at
this
time
that
I
have
not
intruded
upon
this
evening
and
that
we
will
in
the
future,
our
hearts
and
our
understandings
will
meet
with
love
and
generosity.
Thank
you
on
behalf
of
Marlon
Brando.”

After
her
speech,
Sacheen
Littlefeather
was
escorted
from
the
stage.
On
the
other
hand,
actor
John
Wayne
was
reportedly
so
angry
that
he
had
to
be
restrained
by
six
security
personnel
for
physically
assaulting
her.
Well,
after
many
years,
then
president
of
The
Academy,
David
Rubin’s
letter
dated
June
18
has
surfaced
on
the
internet.

According
to
The
Hollywood
Reporter,
Rubin
in
the
letter
stated,
“The
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.”

The
apology
was
privately
presented
to
Sacheen
Littlefeather
in
June
2022.
She
reacted
to
the
apology
with
a
statement
to
the
same
portal.
She
said,
“I
was
stunned.
I
never
thought
I’d
live
to
see
the
day
I
would
be
hearing
this,
experiencing
this.”
Well,
the
news
indeed
left
netizens
surprised.