Felix Clary
ICT + Tulsa World
A Chippewa costume designer who worked on “Killers of the Flower Moon” claims that Apple Studios LLC is seeking retaliation for her complaints about racial discrimination on set by failing to accredit her for the costume work she did.
Kristi Marie Hoffman, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, worked for a year researching and designing costumes for the movie, including the striped jacket that Leonardo DiCaprio wore in the award-winning film. Hoffman said she received no credit for the jacket and other costumes she designed, claiming all of the credit went to her co-worker Jacqueline West.
The lawsuit defendants also include West and the employer of West and Hoffman, the Costume Designer Guild. Deadline.com published the court documents online. Hoffman has done work for films such as “The Revenant” and “Captain America: Civil War,” according to Deadline.
West was nominated for the best costume design at the Oscars for her work shown in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The film centered on the history of the Osage nation and was directed by Martin Scorsese and starred Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro.
ICT attempted to contact Jacqueline West at the Gersh Agency in LA, as well as the Costume Designer Guild, but did not receive a call back.
Hoffman filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2021 for alleged racial discrimination, which was settled December 2022.
Hoffman has published a series of complaints that she claims are evidence of racial discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Harmful stereotyping, name-calling and insensitive jokes about Native victims are among her complaints.
The character, Anna, who is one of main characters Molly Burkhart’s sisters in the film, was sexually assaulted and murdered at the hands of White persecutors. Anna is representative of the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis in Native communities. Hoffman claims that non-Native costume designers made jokes about Anna, mocking her, dressing the actress in inappropriate clothing, and calling the character a “drunk slut.”
Hoffman claims that in retaliation for her complaints, West and CDG have neglected to credit her for her designs in advertisements, YouTube videos, social media posts, emails and magazines. Hoffman believes this deprived her of award nominations and future career opportunities.
The lawsuit claims intentional infliction of emotional distress, saying that West and Apple Studios sought retaliation by conspiring to place Hoffman in a false light, by failing to acknowledge her contributions and instead promoting West, in order to prevent the plaintiff from being hired on other productions. It also claims they attempted to isolate her from the entertainment industry and to reduce her professional status. She was allegedly unable to work for 30 months as a direct result of the emotional distress.
The suit also claims breach of contract, arguing that the Costume Designer Guild failed to protect the plaintiff from the racial discrimination, retaliatory acts and false advertising.
This story is co-published by the Tulsa World and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the Oklahoma area.
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