Vanilla Ice has defended Adam Sandler’s forthcoming comedy in wake of its race scandal.
Adam is currently filming The Ridiculous 6, a comedic Western for Netflix. Several Native American castmates walked off set on Wednesday April 22 in protest of the movie’s material, claiming their culture was disrespected in the scenes they were filming.
But Vanilla, who portrays Mark Twain in The Ridiculous 6, doesn’t think the walk-off was warranted.
"It's a comedy," he told TMZ. "I don't think anybody really had any ill feeling or any intent or anything. This movie isn't [Dances] With Wolves — it's a comedy. They're not there to showcase anything about anybody — they're just making a funny movie."
According to a The Ridiculous 6 script obtained by Gawker, a scene titled EXT. Indian Village Day features an Apache woman smoking a peace pipe while she is urinating.
But that’s not all, apparently the dialogue and character names were extremely offensive to the Native American members of the movie’s ensemble.
"One thing that really offended a lot of people was that there was a female character called Beaver's breath. One character says 'Hey, Beaver's Breath.' And the Native woman says, 'How did you know my name?" extra Loren Anthony informed Indian Country Today Media Network.
Vanilla admits he can see how some people could become offended, even though the star is convinced The Ridiculous 6 is designed to spoof every aspect of the Western movie genre.
“I am part Choctaw Indian, so I see both sides," he noted.
The Ridiculous 6 is supposed to be a parody of hit 1960 Western classic The Magnificent Seven.
And following last week’s walk-off controversy, Netflix issued a statement clarifying the tone The Ridiculous 6 is trying to take on.
"The movie has 'ridiculous' in the title for a reason: because it is ridiculous,” Netflix wrote in a press release to The Hollywood Reporter. “It is a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularised, featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of — but in on — the joke."
