Sacheen Littlefeather Receives Apology From The Academy Over Racist Treatment At 1973 Oscars

justjared.com:

The Academy has finally apologized to Sacheen Littlefeather. Almost 50 years after her appearance at the 1973 Oscars, the 75-year-old actress and activist has received an apology from The Academy over the racist treatment she was subject to during her appearance at the event.

Speaking with THR about the apology, Sacheen opened up about the formal apology. Click inside to read more… If you’re unaware, Sacheen appeared at The Oscars that year on behalf of actor Marlon Brando, who had won the Best Actor Oscar, and he sent her in his place to decline the award. “[Brando] very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award,” she said on stage, in an improvised non-acceptance speech. “The reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry [the audience begins to boo] – excuse me – and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee.” Sacheen was booed onstage, heckled with mock ululations and so-called ‘tomahawk chops’ offstage and threatened with arrest and physical assault. Click inside to read more… “I was stunned.

I never thought I’d live to see the day I would be hearing this, experiencing this,” she told the outlet. “When I was at the podium in 1973, I stood there alone.” Sacheen recalled that actor John Wayne had to be restrained from storming the stage to physically attack her, and after the incident, the federal government threatened to shut down any talk shows or productions that put her on the air. “The abuse you endured because of this statement was unwarranted and unjustified,” then-Academy president David Rubin wrote in the organization’s apology letter. “The emotional burden you have lived through and the cost to your own career in our