1.Ian Ousley plays Sokka in Netflix's new live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Showrunner Albert Kimsaid the show was "a chance to showcase Asian and Indigenous characters as living, breathing people." According to the biography posted by his manager, the actor is "mixed-race, Native American and is a Cherokee tribe member."
But Cherokee Phoenix reported that social media users looked into Ian's background and discovered he's not a member of Cherokee Nation, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, or Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Twitter screenshots claim the only tribe to confirm Ian as a member was Southern Cherokee Nation of Kentucky. Cherokee Phoenix described this as "one of dozens of federally unacknowledged tribes decried as false by the three recognized Cherokee governments." Ian's casting sparked fierce debate online, and a petition called on Netflix to "get the facts straight."