Adam Sandler Says Netflix Was Very Chill About His Racist Movie

Adam Sandler’s Netflix-exclusive movie, The Ridiculous Six looks worse than your average Adam Sandler movie. The film, a parody of the Magnificent Seven, follows a Native American and his five half-brothers in their attempt to rescue their kidnapped father. The film co-stars Sandler regular Rob Schneider, as well as Luke Wilson, Taylor Lautner, Danny Trejo, Jorge Garcia, and Terry Crews. Sounds truly terrible.

The Ridiculous Six was essentially boycotted by a number of Native actors hired to play “Apache characters.” Indian Country Today reported in March that the actors, most of whom were Navajo, objected to the childishly stupid names they were given (for example, No Bra and Beaver’s Breath), as well as depictions of “an actress portraying an Apache woman squatting and urinating while smoking a peace pipe, and feathers inappropriately positioned on a teepee.”

But despite the controversy, Sandler says that Netflix was behind the project. “They were very supportive, [they] had my back the whole time,” the perpetual child told Variety. As Native actors were quitting and walking off set, Netflix defended Sandler’s misunderstood comedic genius. In a statement to Vulture, the company said that the movie “is a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularized, featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of — but in on — the joke.”

Director Frank Coraci reiterated Netflix’s statement to Variety when he described the film as “pro-Native American.” His reasoning? “It follows a man’s journey through the wild west and his realization ‘that the values he grew up with [honor, trust and family] are the things that he gravitates back to.’” Sigh.