Resurfaced 1971 Playboy interview of John Wayne in which he makes homophobic and racist remarks sparks controversy on social media, as many discover for the first time the Hollywood icon's contentious opinions (15 Pics)
An interview with John Wayne in 1971 where he said he 'believes in white supremacy' has resurfaced and caused a stir online.
The iconic actor who stared in classics such as True Grit and The Alamo told Playboy almost 50 years ago that 'Hollywood studios are carrying their tokenism a little too far'.
He also called Native Americans 'selfish' and said they should 'pay as much for Alcatraz as we paid them for Manhattan.'
Matt Williams, a screenwriter, tweeted excerpts of Wayne’s interview, and prompted a furious debate over how to address comments from the past.
‘Jesus f***, John Wayne was a straight up piece of s***,’ Williams wrote.
Williams then tweeted screenshots of quotes from the interview in which Wayne makes homophobic and racist comments.
The thread went viral, generating nearly 30,000 likes and almost 10,000 retweets as of Tuesday evening.
The comments by Wayne, who was born Marion Mitchell Morrison, are nearly 50 years old, but young social media users are only now beginning to learn who he is.
Known as 'Duke,' a nickname he picked up as a boy in Glendale, California, Wayne grew into the star of movies including The Alamo, The Green Beret, and True Grit, for which he won an Academy Award, while portraying the gruff, rugged cowboys and brave soldiers who were his stock in trade.
But his comments to Playboy have tarnished his image in the eyes of many.
'I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility.
'I don't believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people,' Wayne told the magazine.
Wayne told Playboy that there was ‘quite a bit of resentment’ among ‘blacks’.
‘But we can't all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks.’
Wayne also shared his thoughts about Native Americans.
‘I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them,’ he said.
‘I think we ought to make a deal with the Indians. They should pay as much for Alcatraz as we paid them for Manhattan.
I hope they haven't been careless with their wampum.’
When asked if the government should pay reparations to Native Americans, he said: ‘I don't know why the government should give them something that it wouldn't give me.’
Wayne was also asked at the time if Hollywood is doing enough to have diversity.
‘I've directed two pictures and I gave blacks their proper position,’ he said.
‘I had a black slave in The Alamo, and I had a number of blacks in The Green Berets,’ he said.
‘I think the Hollywood studios are carrying their tokenism a little too far.’
Twitter users expressed disbelief that Wayne's political views are still being discussed almost 50 years after the interview was published.
Eugene Gu tweeted: 'John Wayne died in 1979. The fact that some people are outraged now over what he said in a 1971 Playboy interview is just peak outrage culture.
'It’s not only ridiculous but it cheapens truly egregious events worthy of real outrage and attention.
'It’s like crying wolf every time.'
An account parodying the late President Richard Nixon tweeted: 'That John Wayne interview is almost 50 years old, and he was never shy about his politics, which no one gave a damn about long enough to make him a star for 30 years.
'I don't know what it is with you people.'
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro joked: 'Looking forward to Jussie Smollett IDing John Wayne in the alleged attack.'
Smollett is the actor from the hit Fox drama Empire who claimed he was beaten in an attack in which he was called racist and homophobic epithets.
As the investigation progressed, doubts about the veracity of his claims have surfaced as police now suspect it may have been a staged hoax.
Mark Harris tweeted jokingly: 'I'm reading all these tweets and getting slightly worried about whether John Wayne is still going to be able to get work.'
One John Wayne supporter tweeted: 'I wish John Wayne was still alive so he could laugh in the face of today’s weaklings, light up a Lucky Strike, and cruise away with their girlfriends.'
Natalie Wynn joked: 'Glad to see John Wayne's offensive 1971 interview trending, but let's also take a moment to remember that King Henry VIII had two of his wives beheaded. Totally misogynistic.'
Another Twitter user said it shouldn't surprise anyone that Wayne held views that today are considered obsolete.
'John Wayne, eh?,' tweeted Jonathan Pie.
'Who would have thought an interview from a 1971 edition of Playboy would contain outdated views?
'Is there any way we can dig up his corpse and make it apologize?'
Writer Whitney Cummings tweeted: 'You guys don’t need to go back to John Wayne to find racist homophobes - maybe we should focus on the alive ones?'
Another Twitter user tweeted: 'Snowflakes on Twitter tweeting about the John Wayne Playboy interview from 1971.
'The man was born in 1907 he grew up during a time when racism was a real problem in this country. Besides he been dead for 39 years idiots!'
David Ehrlich joked: '100% they’re gonna ask John Wayne to host the Oscars next year.'
The joke is a reference to actor-comedian Kevin Hart, who was forced to step down a host of this year's Academy Awards after years-old tweets about homosexuals resurfaced.
