John Wayne Revealed As A White Supremacist In Unearthed 1971 ‘Playboy’ Interview

We all knew this in 1970, OP. The Playboy interview just put it in writing.

He liked Mexican girls.

R2 He was gay.

His name was Marion! Was he a tranny?

Are there no LIVING bigots and racists they can focus all this attention on ? I still and always will love John Wayne,I could give a shit less what he said 50 fucking years ago.

In all seriousness, wouldn't you be more surprised if he weren't? He was not only the product of his time, but had a hand in shaping it.

Also, you cannot gauge his statements by today's standards. What we might view as bigoted today would have been commonly held views and not particular out of the norm - remember interracial marriage was only legalized in 1967. Many people simply accepted it without a second thought without being particularly racist. It simply was, like gravity, the sun rising in the east, and homosexuality the result of mental illness or an absent father and domineering mother.

My grandparents were the same age as Wayne, R6, and they were not racists or bigots. Homophobes, I'm sure, but not racists. Older geezers I knew their age even if they thought like Wayne, knew NEVER to express it in public.

John Wayne was also a sexist. A bad actor, an asshole.

Not hugely suprising.

He was wearing this when he said all of that.

R9 Mary!

Hearing reports that John Wayne, who has been dead for 40 years, is cancelled

It's because it's so egregious that it's gotten attention, and it's not like living bigots are enjoying a free pass because everyone is distracted by this, r5.

The interview is infamous and a new generation just discovered it. Notably, a lot of the film critics on Twitter in their 40s and older are LIVID at the suggestion that Wayne was a piece of shit. Saw Matt Prigge say Wayne wasn't that bad because he married "non Americans," which is a really dumb thing to say.

Wayne’s statements in the interview are less racist than I expected - he blames an education gap for racial inequity, not innate ability, and infers that “white supremacy” is a situational condition subject to change. Compare that to modern pop academics like Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson, and Steven Pinker - all with Ph.Ds - who believe in “race science” and link average IQ to skin color. Funny how the cowboy actor from decades ago was more “woke” than many gen-X college professors.

R6, when I first read the interview in the 1990s, I mentioned it to my parents who said they remembered when it happened and that it caused quite a stir. There are articles and op-eds from 1972 talking about how crude his comments were. It wasn't just an everyday event.

R9 Dammit that made me crack up. LOL

R13 Yes, that's what I thought.

He was a small minded fool, I believe most people knew that.

Old, conservative white men WORSHIP John Wayne. That says it all.

but they reject the notion he got his start on the casting couch

John was a sweet man. I went to school with his daughter Aissa and for our high school class trip he sent all of us to Catalina on his yacht.

Of course politics weren't discussed back then much, but if Kate could stand him- fine by me.

[quote]when I first read the interview in the 1990s, I mentioned it to my parents who said they remembered when it happened and that it caused quite a stir. There are articles and op-eds from 1972 talking about how crude his comments were. It wasn't just an everyday event.

r14 and r7, you've both missed my point somewhat.

My point is not that they were every day events, rather they were not as extreme as we might view them today.

As a different example, the John Birch Society was disavowed by the Republican party as far back as the 1960s and as recently as the early 2000s. Yet today, most of the positions they've historically held have been widely adopted by mainstream rethugs of today.

My point is a relative and comparative, not absolute point when assessing such positions. Not that he's right or justified or that the opinions weren't abhorrent, merely that they weren't as extreme and isolated as they might otherwise be seen today.

I make no excuses for him or mitigation.

But will he still be hosting the Oscars or not?

This was a big deal ten years ago. Why is it being rehashed now? The Simpsons even made fun of it? I guess some dumb Millennial was asleep at the switch.

R13, you have any links to info on Steven Pinker and race and IQ? I’m not doubting you, I’m just disappointed if it’s true. I’ve loved a couple of his books and this is the first I’ve heard that he links race and IQ. Thanks.

Pushed by the same people who want to stop airing GWTW

Reported to have a small dick. That explains the exaggerated machismo.

I never liked him not a good actor and I didn't like how he looked.

R23 - In his book The Blank Slate, Pinker claims there are genetic differences in average IQs of population groups (which correlates to race), but he is notoriously evasive about it. Being a psycholinguist, he chooses his words carefully. For instance, he both disagrees with AND defends the work of Charles A. Murray (The Bell Curve), and has been defended by the likes of Ben Shapiro and others affiliated with the alt.right and red pill movements. Pinker has been accepted into the clique of “race realism” even though he’s careful not to openly promote it.

What's red pill movement?

It’s referenced here:

Wow What a shock NOT

"I guess some dumb Millennial was asleep at the switch."

Yawn, I guess some dumb Republican baby boomer wants to blame everything he dislikes on Millennials

In Wayne's time most white people were racist to one degree or another.

r32, no, not in 1971 and he was rich and traveled in showbiz circles, it's not like he was a bumpkin who didn't know any better

Please! Do you think only poor rural rubes are racist? Trust me, most rich whites are as racist as can be. And generally the richer they are the more racist they are. There are some exceptions, but not many. And also, what people say they think about race in public and what they say about race in private are very often two decidedly different things.

There are plenty of celebs who were involved in the Civil Rights movement in the 60s. What is Wayne's excuse?

People who were people of their time can be quite shocking to look back on.

There were plenty of liberal stars who were ahead of their time on gay rights and the civil rights movement, like Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Wayne was just a reactionary piece of shit.

And it was nice of r5 to endorse a man who called gays "perverts"

Millennials know who John Wayne is? Why would anybody at this point care what he thought?

Oh please Miss R37 . Its all about the dick,I could give a shit less what someones politics are. As long as they were fucking me who cares if they were a neo nazi ? Ive never understood why words have such power to so many people. Who CARES what someone thinks ?

John Wayne was a racist and homophobe? Are you really shocked by that? I'm always amazed by people who live in these strange bubbles. I'd be more shocked if he weren't racist and homophobic.

One of the best things about smarts phones is that it has allowed people to start recording racist bullshit, because I really believe that some of you thought black people were making shit up when they talk about how much day to day racism affects their lives. People are racist. Maybe not Klan joining separate water fountain racists, but people are fucked up.

Did not know that Sam Harris was a promoter of race science, yuck.

R34, you're very wrong.

Closeted man. Mattress strapped to back. Limited talent. Big mouth.

Internalized homophobia

R29 Thanks

Wait til they find out about Barbera Stanwyck

This is brand new information! Except that it really isn’t. I first discovered by reading the problems with Montgomery Clift on the set of “Red River”. Also, even if you never read anything about his personal life, just look at how Indigenous people are portrayed in his films to get a clue.

I don’t think younger people even watch his films anymore? I mean unless you’re in film school and being forced to watch stuff, Westerns are kind of out of fashion anyways. But I’m always pro-reminder that Wayne was garbage lol. At least in his case, it’s not like his views were irrelevant to his work.. it really informs his filmography to know just HOW racist he was.

PLAYBOY: What kind of films do you consider perverted?

WAYNE: Oh, Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy—that kind of thing. Wouldn't you say that the wonderful love of those two men in Midnight Cowboy, a story about two fags, qualifies? But don't get me wrong. As far as a man and a woman is concerned, I'm awfully happy there's a thing called sex. It's an extra something God gave us. I see no reason why it shouldn't be in pictures. Healthy, lusty sex is wonderful.

PLAYBOY: Angela Davis claims that those who would revoke her teaching credentials on ideological grounds are actually discriminating against her because she's black. Do you think there's any truth in that?

WAYNE: With a lot of blacks, there's quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so. But we can't all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks. 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.

PLAYBOY: That's hardly the point, but let's change the subject. For years American Indians have played an important—if subordinate—role in your Westerns. Do you feel any empathy with them?

WAYNE: I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them, if that's what you're asking. Our so-called stealing of this country from them was just a matter of survival. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.

PLAYBOY: What legacy do you hope to leave behind?

WAYNE: Well, you're going to think I'm being corny, but this is how I really feel: I hope my family and my friends will be able to say that I was an honest, kind and fairly decent man.

I think it's safe to say he's done. John Wayne will never work again.

Will Gaga have to remove another one of her songs from streaming services??

What a man. Has the balls to say what he thinks. His base must be awed. His closet door is securely closed now. And in playboy no less. Bravo John. Another acting role of swaggering machismo hammed up.

Decent people then knew all this about him back then too.

R34 I strongly agree with your comment. In my experience I have seen far stronger racism in the wealthiest income levels than the poorest. This is not to say the poor don't have their issues but many would be shocked at how many highly educated, high income people are bigots.

Look to country clubs for that. Even today.

Those selfish Indians! Wayne was always a dick. He was a loud Rupug in the late 60s and 70s, pro Nam and all that shit. My mother hated him. She grew up in the Depression and the war and said he was too chicken to sign up. He deferred due to kids but she said other men with kids signed up, including celebrities. Then he becomes this macho guy doing war movies. She really disliked him. And he was a crappy actor.

Walter Brennan was a John Bircher who danced a jig when they shot Dr. King, but his Disney movies are easier to find today than [italic]Song Of the South[/italic].

I'm not really surprise. I never took to him in the first place.

*surprised.

I had known about that interview and his conservatism since I was a kid. But I did not realize just HOW much of an asshat he was after reading those awful quotes. "Fags" and the Indians were being selfish with THEIR OWN land? Oh well. He's dead and gone so, you know.

Also, I have read in several places that he was always self-conscious (and rightfully so) being around other male movie stars of his era who DID serve and who were actual veterans. He was only ever play-acting one of them in the movies. And he was chastised about it from some people, too. It embarrassed him. Maybe he was always resentful, knowing deep down he had been a coward, of sorts?

Queen Marion

John Ford during THEY WERE EXPENDABLE yelled at Wayne after a bad take, "Duke, can't you manage a salute that at least looks like you've been in the service?"

[QUOTE]”With a lot of blacks, there’s quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so,” Wayne says. “But we can’t all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks. 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 judgement to irresponsible people.”

He sounds like a modern day white Republican.

R46, "Barbera" Stanwyck was a conservative, but not a racist or homophobe. She worked for Native American rights. Being a Republican in 1950 was not the same as today, which you probably do not know.

He was a well-known fascist piece of shit in his lifetime.

In other news, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler revealed as antisemite in unearthed 1937 Frankfurter Zeitungl interview.

R66 Stanwyck was a fascinating woman, someone who took her struggles and trauma and made something of herself. I would love to see a biopic of her, but all Hollywood wants are more movies about drug addled perpetual victim Marilyn Monroe.

Ha ha, R69. Oh they could make Stanwyck a victim in a biopic - she lost the "love of her life" dumb dumb pretty boy Robert Taylor (she called him Junior), she lost a kidney, she lost (or didn't get) the role in On Golden Pond. Poor thing.

What I would like is a good old fashioned documentary, like an American Masters on PBS. Stanwyck was a very complex person besides being one of the best actresses in Hollywood's golden era - yes, better than Hepburn. (That's Katharine, not Audrey)

Elvis was a hero to most

But he never meant shit to me you see

Straight up racist that sucker was

Simple and plain

Mother fuck him and John Wayne

When is Eminem going to be held to the same scrutiny? He should have been shot in a drive-by 20 years ago.

Hugh Hefner normalized the idea that women only exist to serve men sexually. He’s just as bad if not worse.

John Wayne had numerous relationships with Latinas. My grandfather had a very minor role (speaking extra) on a film John Wayne made in Mexico and claimed he pursued Mexican women on set relentlessly and barely acknowledged the white women on set. Used to use cringey come-ons like "Mamacita" and "Chiquita."

Are we surprised OP after all these years?

R72 Good question. I hate that fug little opiate gobbling shit. For whatever reason, Eminem has been protected and coddled by the media for quite some time, supposedly because of his dubious "genius ". And funnily enough By the same people who would boycott other entertainers for doing or saying far less . In his heyday he would spout the most hateful , violent , and homophobic rhetoric and everyone would excuse by saying that it was OK because he loved his daughter. Like I give a shit if he loves his spawn when he's putting that garbage out for consumption.

John Wayne was a member of the John Birch Society, so people knew that he held very conservative political views. What he said in the interview about "Midnight Cowboy" should surprise no one. Homophobic statements like that were all too common. Was he a racist? It's hard to say. Those comments certainly are to us, but might they be more racially insensitive rather than racist?

You should look at some of the B Westerns he acted in in the early 1930s. They're jaw-dropping in their racism. Black characters are buffoonish, they are called Sambo and all sorts of racist-tinged epithets, and they play to certain stereotypes.

He was very gung ho about the Vietnam War. Was very vocal about it!

What did he do in World War II?

R34 R56 I'll just mention my family history. One part of my family, my grandmother's, were poor whites in the rural South back during the days of segregation. But here is the thing, they were friends with the black couple living next door, they regularly ate and visited together, they worked in the cotton fields together. Her elderly aunt and uncle actually attended the black church down the road, and are buried in the church graveyard. She grew up attending the fundrasing fair every year held at the local black school. It wasn't until much later when she grew up and moved to town that found out about segregation, and neighbors chastised her for having her former neighbors come to her house to visit and show off her new home. She and my grandfather, moved back to the country as soon as they could afford to, away from nosy neighbors who thought they could tell them what to do in their own home.

John Wayne was in many, many war films where he was the leader or officer or enlisted man serving in some branch of the service. Yet he never served at all, yet was pretty jingoistic and called for SOMEONE ELSE to serve in actual combat or enlist in the military. It's not like he was a conscientious objector either -- no, he was gung ho to have others fight. But he only wanted to be a hero in the movies, not real life. Lots of jerks like that. My parents had friends who were all for having guys go to Vietnam, which bothers my parents since they had sons. Those friends only had daughters. Equal rigits for selective service then. -- if people knew their sweet little daughters had a chance of getting drafted, there wouldn't be ANY draft. Screw John Wayne -- I wonder what James Stewart, Clark Gable and other actors who actually served thought of Wayne's BS?

Equal "rights", that is

And good for my folks -- they dropped those friends after hearing them talk other nonsense.

All of wives were Mexican and he spoke fluent Spanish.

This this is an interesting paradox given American racists fixation with constructing a wall between Mexico and the United States.

Most Americans borne in 1907 probably had some opinions that could be consider rather off-color and appalling by today's standards ⸺ a product of their time.

All of John's wives were not Mexican R83. Pilar his last wife who had his youngest 3 kids was Peruvian.

As for his comments and not serving, we had a homophobic POS president who was just as bad and a worse flop actor- Ronnie Reagan

HE WAS G A Y

Having a Latina fetish doesn't mean he wasn't racist.

Note that this interview caused a stir when it came out in 1971, no matter how you think people of his age thought.

Stanwyck was a closet case.

R73 and Hefner himself was gay

I was too young to remember this, but years later my parents’ discovered that an old racist neighbor of ours was a huge fan and had a room in her house full of memorabilia. I remember my parents saying “it figures” that an old racist like her would be a fan of John Wayne. People then knew, and judged him and others for their racism.

Who would be "shocked" by this?

Pfffft

[quote]Who would be "shocked" by this?

Kids! They spent all day yesterday whining on Twitter that a dead guy their generation doesn’t care about was a racist. Pains in the ass.

Of course John Wayne was a racist, but if you were ignorant about that until yesterday, maybe don’t trumpet your ignorance from the rooftops.

This is old news OP.

I think he was insecure and felt Latina women were beneath him and were easier to control. Because I believe he was either bi or on the DL. That walk, his movements are just flaming. And no way he didn't give it up to Ford. I have no doubt he is the one Maureen saw with Ford.

I can't believe a guy who made a career out of shooting guns off across the American west was an asshole. What next? The Romsns didn't just build good aqueducts, but were also violent assholes?

What a rube

"Unearthed?"

It's been online for years.

We might not even know who John Wayne was if he had served in the war - not for the obvious reason that he could have been killed - but because he took advantage of so many actors serving in the war, that he got roles they would have gotten and more attention, because of less competition.

"I think he was insecure and felt Latina women were beneath him and were easier to control"

Maybe, but I think he liked them because they cleaned up after him with no complaints.

Per an A&E Biography show, the military wanted John Wayne to stay in Hollywood to appear in movies. It was to boost the morale of WW II audiences, supposedly. Of course, he could have been 4F and was rejected for military service.

He was a bastard during the Vietnam War; a thoroughgoing hypocrite. He insisted that others lay down their lives after he refused to do it himself.

There is no fucking way to justify anything he said in that interview. Anyone who does should die from AIDS.

Ghastly. And the Native American part was childish. So the Europeans were so crowded that they had to go take land in other places... WTF? Even then, India and China were so crowded, why shouldn't they come take over a big chunk of our sparsely populated country? I mean, it would be only right and proper (according to JW). I'm sure he would have agreed...

I do give him credit for saying "With a lot of blacks, there’s quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so,..."

The "rightfully so" part. There are still plenty jerks who won't acknowledge slavery, Jim Crow, extreme prejudice up to the present day - they just refuse to say any of that is wrong. Which Wayne sort of went on to do - as they aren't capable blah blah.

Lousy actor and an even lousier human being. I remember the night of the Emmys and his nasty old ass was sitting in the audience and when ROOTS won best miniseries, the camera zoomed in on his redneck. He saw the camera on him and clapped-half heartedly. A year later, he was dead. Good.

Who are these trash bags who insist on coming to a gay board to screech about someone needing to die of AIDS?

John Wayne is dead. No one gives a fuck what he thought when he was alive. Die OP die.

Wayne was an idiot, but the bigger issue is why actors and other celebrities feel/felt they must have an opinion on current events. And the press that treats them like they're intelligent and well read.

John Wayne homophobic? BITCH PLEASE!!

ronald reagan and ddump as POTUS,r107

Well honestly, most white people in America were racist and homophobic when Wayne did that interview. Doesn't excuse it, but that's the way things were back then.

Well that settles it. Duke won't host next year's Oscars.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

At least he didn’t use the n-word.

Well, in public at least. I'm sure in private it was a different matter.

First they came for John Wayne, and I said nothing.....

And then they came for Judy Garland.

John Wayne was a bona fide movie star that worked in Hollywood for decades. You think he didnt personally know dozens,if not 100s of gay people ? In Hollywood ? Where every other man is gay ? You think he didnt have a good working relationship with all those hair and makeup queens? Costumers? Lighting men? Gay actors ? Of course he did .

Not to mention toupee makers.

He's long dead, don't care.

Of course, IQ is linked to to genetics, and, race.

This news is so old. I wish people would stop acting like this is akin to the discovery of the Lost Ark. That PLAYBOY interview got lots of attention when it came out in the seventies. Not news. Maybe to younger people. But Wayne, Charles Coburn, Walter Brennan, Fred Astaire, Jimmy Stewart and even Ginger Rogers and Virginia Mayo were hardcore racists. Character actor Coburn was a member of the White Citizens Council.

“Unearthed”? I guess they dug it up along with the Dead Sea scrolls in a clay jar.

People in prehistoric 1971 actually had different opinions from people of today, and stated them. Then other people discussed them and were able to argue those views were wrong. That’s how progress was made in ancient times, before Twitter.

Who ever said that Fred & Ginger were racists????

They were.

R116, this about racism, not homophobia.

And Robeson was a Communist. Who cares about this shit with long dead people?

We are doomed as long as young people today continue to judge those in the past by today's standards. I have even heard very educated black columnists and talking heads on TV say as much,

I actually read a black woman's impassioned plea to have Thomas Jefferson tried in absentia post mortem for the crime of rape against Sally Hemmings just yesterday.

I was born in the late 50s, so I saw some shit in Georgia. It went on well into the 70s there. Remember the dude with the axe who was elected governor Lester Maddox?

The point is, when you go to school and they tell you things as facts, and your church going parents tell you things as facts, OF COURSE you are going to take them at face value. And I do not mean that they spewed racial hate. It was more like racial ignorance. My mother told me that they closed the town municipal swimming pool in 68 after segregation because of thee health risk it would expose us to. That sort of thing,

I don't remember where but I was at a place that had one of his old costumes.

It might have been in London. The Victoria and Albert.

What I was taken back by was his boots were so small they could have been worn by a child.

Make your own assumptions.

The only surprising thing about Wayne was that as a very young man he was incredibly hot.

We need to eliminate any name that has to do with Amerigo Vespucci, Christopher Columbus, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. They all behaved in problematic ways and anything that in anyway way glorifies them must be abolished.

With those dick sucking lips. You mean he was straight?

Maybe remove George Washington from the dollar bill due his “problametics”, R129 and replace him with Martin Luther King?

R39 Your lack of need to know who is fucking you is only slightly more disturbing than your love of The Green Berets, of all the terrible films that old fraud Wayne made that is one of the worst. Are you a closet case by the way? There are a lot of them here and it would explain your attitude.

ALWAYS REMEMBER, the only wars this big brave hero ever fought in were between the words “Action” & “Cut” !

[quote] only slightly more disturbing than your love of The Green Berets, of all the terrible films that old fraud Wayne made that is one of the worst. Are you a closet case by the way?

Why do you hate George Takei ?

I like George Takei R134 but his filmography leaves a lot to be desired. Incidentally, Maureen O'Hara wrote in her autobiography she walked in on John Ford kissing a man who was one of the most famous personalities in pictures, also there's a book examining Ford's relationship with Wayne .

How dare this dead man be bigoted fifty years ago! He MUST be STOPPED!

Fuck off R136 you don't want current bigots silenced either.

[quote] There's now a push to change the name of John Wayne airport after the revelations.

Good luck with that.

[quote]Wait til they find out about Barbera Stanwyck

She wasn’t a bigot like Wayne. Old school Republican who thought that everyone, regardless of color, should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. She stood up for her maid when on location for a film and the hotel wouldn’t allow blacks to stay there. Beach Richards said that Barbara was one of the nicest white actresses she worked with, when she guest starred on The Big Valley. And a black architect designed one of her ranches...she picked him based on his work.

Her big mistake was being married to a pussy like Robert Taylor, who sang like a canary at the HUAC hearings. And joining that group in Hollywood started by Ayn Rand, National Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, something like that. Unfortunately, racists like John Wayne, Adolph Menjou, Walter Brennan, Hedda Hopper and Ginger Rogers were also members...so guilty by association I guess. The Organization was supposedly just anti-Communist, but Brennan was known to be opposed to integration, as was Hopper, the cunt. Not everyone who belonged was a racist, but because of the idea and attitudes of many of the members, they’re forever tainted.

Beah Richards, not Beach...autocorrect sucks.

I'm sure this going viral on Twitter will shake his fanbase to the core. His career is done...wait...

Nobody is saying it will affect the dead John Wayne R141 apart from his reputation, which was always that of a right wing prick anyway. The point of interest for me is how the archaic views Wayne had are still very much currency in Deplorable America, a Roy Moore or similar character could have given that interview yesterday.

Any gay man who can’t at least acknowledge Wayne’s idealized masculinity, iconic impact on the movies and American culture is a pansy. There I said it.

I'd love to have been fucked by that homophobic POS.

R142 I got that, I have a family member who is not THAT old with a cardboard standee of 'the duke', in his home. I wont bore you with their archaic political beliefs.