There have been only three times in the history of Academy awards that celebrities had rejected the Oscars. And the most notable of those rejections was when actor Marlon Brando rejected his Oscar for Best Actor for the movie ‘The Godfather‘ in 1973. He did not attend the event but instead had sent Sacheen Littlefeather, an actor and activist on his behalf.
The series of incidents that unfolded after Littlefeather came up on the stage was neither pleasant nor acceptable. The cause of Brando’s refusal and Littlefeather’s speech were right and just. But was it well received by the industry? And 49 years later the Academy has now apologized to Sacheen Littlefeather for the abuse she endured at the Oscars in 1973.
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Sacheen Littlefeather’s Speech At The 1973 Oscars
In 1973, Marlon Brando won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Vito Corleone in the movie ‘The Godfather‘. But the actor refused his award and sent actor and activist Sacheen Littlefeather on his behalf. The award was rejected as part of Brando’s protest of Hollywood’s depictions of Native American people. The gesture also aimed to bring attention to the events at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Here a massacre of Native Americans took place in 1890, and protests were ongoing. A month before the Oscars, the town of Wounded Knee was occupied for 71 days by 200 Oglala Lakota and AIM activists.
Sacheen had come up with a 15-page letter, but she was threatened by a producer to be physically removed and arrested if her speech exceeded 60 seconds. Thus she went on stage, refused the award and gave a modified speech. Later on, the whole letter would be read out in full in the press room following the incident. A group of the audience did support her remarks while some booed in distaste of her political concerns at the ceremony. In her interview with The Guardian, she talked about the white supremacist star John Wayne who was offended by her political stance. She recounted, “During my presentation, he was coming towards me to forcibly take me off the stage, and he had to be restrained by six security men to prevent him from doing so.” She was also mocked and laughed at backstage after her press conference.
The Academy Apologizes After 49 Years
Sacheen Littlefeather formally accepted the apology at an event named ‘An Evening with Sacheen Littlefeather‘, which was held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles over the weekend. “I am here accepting this apology. Not only for me alone, but as acknowledgment, knowing that it was not only for me but for all of our nations that also need to hear and deserve this apology tonight. Now, I would like all the Indian people in this audience to stand. Look at our people, look at each other and be proud that we stand as survivors, all of us,” the 75-year-old activist responded to the apology letter issued by then-Academy president David Ruben.
Though the acknowledgment came after 50 years, she had been happy about receiving the apology letter earlier this summer. She also expressed her contentment with seeing all the changes that have happened over the years.
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