YouTube: Trailer for Out of the Furnace

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the creators of a film that depicted the Ramapough Lunaape Nation of New Jersey in a negative light.

Out of the Furnace features characters with last names common among the tribe and some members of the cast are listed as "Jackson White," a derogatory term for the Ramapough. But Judge William Walls said the film didn't actually depict any of the tribal plaintiffs.

“Plaintiffs plead only that some of them share the same surname, but not first name, as two of the characters in the movie," Willis wrote, The Newark Star-Ledger reported. "They also contend that they are Ramapoughs, as are the characters in the movie, and that many of them live in the same region as the Ramapoughs. These allegations do not suffice to show that the alleged defamatory statements are ‘of and concerning’ these plaintiffs.”

The creators of the film said it depicts a fictional community.

Get the Story:
Judge tosses out Ramapough Mountain Indians lawsuit over "Out of the Furnace" (The Newark Star-Ledger 5/16)
'Out of the Furnace' Producers Beat Defamation Lawsuit By 17 Native Americans (The Hollywood Reporter 5/15)

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Ramapough Nation slams film for negative portrayal of tribe (12/12)