John Wayne was a movie star whose conservative
politics, as well as his penchant for speaking his mind, caught the ire of many of his peers.
There were several stars that couldn’t stand John, and we’ll be taking a look at some of them in
this video! While plenty of John’s peers couldn’t stand him, the ones who hated him the most weren’t
afraid to talk about it. From Katharine Hepburn to Frank Sinatra, join Facts Verse as we explore
celebrities who publicly hated John Wayne. Katharine Hepburn
The first John Wayne-hating celebrity that we’ll be taking a look at in this
video is Katharine Hepburn. Katharine Hepburn had such distaste for John Wayne that she actually
turned down the opportunity to work with him on one occasion. However, she ended up going back on
her word later in her life and working with John in a picture shortly before the Western legend’s
1979 death. Though Katharine criticized the star’s behavior on the set of the picture, it seems
that she had grown to respect him by his passing. It should come as not much of a shock to
viewers that John Wayne was one of the biggest figures in Hollywood during the
industry’s Golden Age that was willing to work with the American government
to help expose his Communist peers. John Wayne had very strong ties to the
House Un-American Activities Committee, or HUAC, which was the group that hunted down
Communists in the entertainment industry. The House Un-American Activities Committee
was the organization responsible for getting Communist stars blacklisted during Hollywood’s
Golden Age, and John Wayne’s involvement with the heinous organization caught the ire of many
of his peers in the industry. One such peer who looked down on John for his involvement with the
notorious organization was Katharine Hepburn. In the early 1950s, Katharine Hepburn was
given the chance to star alongside John Wayne in the movie Hondo. John wanted Katharine to
play the movie’s lead female role alongside him. However, Katharine ended up turning down
the chance to work with John Wayne because she felt that the work that he was doing with
the House Un-American Activities Committee was monstrous. The role in Hondo ended
up going to actress Geraldine Page, and she even went on to receive an
Academy Award nomination for it! Two decades after Katharine Hepburn had turned
down the chance to star alongside John Wayne in Hondo, the political climate in Hollywood had
calmed down considerably. The House Un-American Activities Committee was a thing of the past,
and stars weren’t encouraged to go to war with each other just because of differing political
beliefs. In the 1970s, Katharine changed her mind and decided that she would be willing to star
alongside John Wayne, if only for a picture. The picture that Katharine Hepburn starred
alongside John Wayne in was 1975’s Rooster Cogburn. Although Katharine had warmed up to John
enough to star in the picture, she still had some decidedly negative remarks to share about him
after the picture was done filming. Katharine apparently had some criticisms about how much
John got into arguments with the crew of the film, feeling that it was a little unprofessional.
However, Katharine ended up changing her tune by the time of John’s death just
a few years later. Upon John’s passing, Katharine admitted he was a talented man. John Lennon
The late John Lennon was another celebrity who had some decidedly nasty words to share about
John Wayne. Both during John’s lifetime and after his passing, it seems that John Lennon had
no respect for his fellow celebrity John. The way John Lennon saw it, he was a seller of
peace, while John Wayne was a seller of war. This put the two at direct odds with one
another. John Lennon claimed that John Wayne had been trying to sell him war since
the popular musician was a little boy, as John Lennon grew up watching John Wayne’s
films. When it came time for John Lennon to raise his own children, he made sure that they had no
exposure to the warmongering works of John Wayne. Many of John Lennon’s disparaging remarks
towards John Wayne came from a 1969 interview that the popular musician gave
around the time of his most flagrant anti-war activism. Around the same time that John Lennon
and spouse Yoko Ono locked themselves in their bedroom to protest the Vietnam War, John
Lennon could be heard saying in this interview that he had no interest in letting his and
Yoko’s son, Sean, watch John Wayne’s films. Many years later, after John Wayne’s
passing, John Lennon still continued to ridicule the late Hollywood legend. By
that point, John Lennon felt that the only thing that worshipping a Hollywood figure
like John Wayne could bring to someone was death. John Lennon also went on to insinuate that
the reason that John Wayne succumbed to cancer was because the actor wasn’t in touch with
his feminine side. According to John Lennon, John Wayne’s feminine side turned
against him and destroyed him. Of course, John Lennon would go on to die an
even more tragic death right after John Wayne’s. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to
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Facts Verse videos are on their way! Spike Lee
An example of a more modern celebrity that has spoken out against the legacy
of John Wayne is famous African-American filmmaker Spike Lee. Spike Lee let his hatred for
the late John Wayne be known to the public during a 2018 BAFTA event. At the event, Spike Lee
gave a long lecture about the way different races have been portrayed in Hollywood films. Of course,
it didn’t take very long for Spike to get on the subject of John Wayne’s Western films and how
many of them depicted Native Americans as savages. Spike Lee didn’t mince his words when criticizing
the late John Wayne at this 2018 BAFTA event, and most of the crowd certainly agreed with the
director’s viewpoint. Spike also criticized John Ford, who was the director of many of the
John Wayne pictures that he was talking about. While many of John Wayne’s peers hated him
around the time that the Western legend was alive, Spike Lee’s hatred for
the late Western star’s legacy is more emblematic of modern society’s
views on the movie star’s works as a whole. Thanks in no small part to outspoken
individuals such as Spike Lee, modern society has been reevaluating
the legacy that John Wayne left behind in the entertainment industry. Many
feel that John was a racist and misogynist that shouldn’t be revered posthumously, despite
all of his film work. One can imagine that Spike Lee certainly sides with the people that want
to write John Wayne out of history, such as those who campaigned in vain to have the Western
legend’s name removed from John Wayne Airport. Clark Gable
While all of the aforementioned celebrities publicly hated John Wayne due to his
politics, Clark Gable and John Wayne actually agreed on most political issues. Both John and
Clark were rare Hollywood Republicans, though this didn’t necessarily mean that the two were friends.
In fact, it seems that Clark wasn’t all that fond of John Wayne. However, their feud stemmed from
artistic differences instead of political ones. After years of starring in classic films, John
Wayne decided in the later 1950s that he was ready to direct his own. John Wayne’s directorial debut
ended up being the classic 1960 film The Alamo. Though John Wayne’s The Alamo is considered
a beloved classic by many today, there were plenty of people in the entertainment industry
who felt that the Western legend was overreaching in his attempts to become a director.
One such person was Clark Gable, who thought that John was going to fall flat on
his face with his directorial debut. This is why Clark refused John when the latter figure
offered him the chance to take on the film’s lead role. John Wayne allegedly begged
Clark Gable to take on the lead role of Davy Crockett in the film, but Clark Gable refused.
Clark was one of the most respected actors in the industry at the time, and he had no interest
in risking his credibility to do John a favor. John Wayne hadn’t intended on starring in
The Alamo, but he ended up taking on the role of Davy Crockett himself after Clark
turned it down. Critics are still divided to this day over whether John’s directorial
debut is cheap, warmongering propaganda or an actual classic film. However, the film undeniably
has classic status in the eyes of John’s fans. Frank Sinatra
The final John Wayne-hating celebrity we’ll be taking a
look at in this video is Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra was so liberal during his early
days in Hollywood that the FBI was spying on him to make sure that he wasn’t a Communist.
Frank was somewhat of a liberal activist of the time, with him supporting numerous liberal
organizations and politicians. Meanwhile, John Wayne was quite the opposite. It stands
to reason that the two should’ve butted head during their shared time in the entertainment
industry due to their differing beliefs. Things came to a head between Frank Sinatra and John Wayne when the latter figure
criticized the former figure’s hiring of a director with Communist ties. John Wayne wasn’t
the only figure in Hollywood that criticized Frank’s hiring of blacklisted Communist filmmaker
Alfred Maltz to write a screenplay for one of his films. In fact, the backlash was so universal
that Frank ended up letting the filmmaker go. Although Frank went on to fire Alfred Maltz
as a result of the backlash, he didn’t let go of his grudge against John Wayne. The
two reportedly nearly got into a physical altercation at a Hollywood benefit show, though
this incident somehow caused the two to squash the beef and become friends. It seems that both Frank
Sinatra and John Wayne won the other’s respect during this near-altercation, and the two of them
would remain friends from that point forward. John Wayne certainly rubbed a lot of his peers the
wrong way during his days in Hollywood, though it seems that some of them had a more positive view
of the Western legend by the time of his death. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that
John Wayne and Frank Sinatra almost got into a fight over the latter figure hiring a blacklisted
Communist director and that Clark Gable refused to star in John Wayne’s directorial debut because he didn’t think the Western legend was going to
be a good filmmaker? As always, like this video to show your support, subscribe, and
hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when
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