Clint Eastwood is a well-known Hollywood actor. Activists targeted him on Indigenous Peoples’ Day after a 1973 Oscars joke.
On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a progressive political activist sent out a now-viral tweet criticizing Clint Eastwood over a speech he made at the 1973 Academy Awards.
The iconic actor and director made the comment after Native American actress and activist Sacheen Littlefeather accepted Marlon Brando’s Best Actor Oscar for The Godfather on his behalf on stage.
Littlefeather bemoaned the present treatment of Native Americans by the Hollywood film business, as well as the atrocities at Wounded Knee, during his acceptance speech. Her words were greeted with both boos and applause.
“I don’t know if I should present this award on behalf of all the cowboys shot in all the John Ford westerns over the years,” Eastwood said after taking the stage to deliver the Oscar for Best Picture.
“That time Marlon Brando refused his Oscar win and instead asked Sacheen Littlefeather to implore Hollywood to stop degrading Native Americans to boos and applause,” activist Rafael Shimunov tweeted on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, October 11. Then Clint Eastwood mocked her, adding, “We should honor all of the imaginary deceased Cowboys.” The video had 1.6 million views as of Saturday afternoon, and the post has been ‘liked’ over 37,000 times.
1973: Native American actor Sacheen Littlefeather was booed (and cheered) by Hollywood at the Academy Awards before being mocked by Clint Eastwood and almost physically assaulted by John Wayne for requesting that Indigenous peoples not be dehumanized in films.
