Matthew McConaughey may have just stepped in it big time. The actor gave an interview with GQ this month, in which among other topics, he discussed the controversy surrounding the Washington Redskins’ name and logo – which many consider to be extremely racist toward Native Americans. It seems McConaughey likes the football team’s name just fine the way it is, and while he acknowledges that while a name change is probably inevitable, he wishes it wasn’t so.  Backlash against the name has been rapidly growing stronger in recent years, and McConaughey’s comments are likely not to sit well with some.

Regarding the controversy, McConaughey said, “What interests me is how quickly it got pushed into public consciousness.” He continued, “We were all fine with it since the 1930s, and all of a sudden we go, ‘No, gotta change it’? It seems like when the first levee breaks, everybody gets on board.” The actor added, “I know a lot of Native Americans don’t have a problem with it, but they’re not going to say, ‘No, we really want the name.’”

Drawing what some might consider a puzzling comparison, McConaughey continued, “It’s like my feeling about gun control: ‘I get it. You have the right to own guns. But look, let’s forget that right. Let’s forget the pleasure you get safely on your range, because it’s in the wrong hands in other places.”

In conclusion, the actor said of a potential change, “It’s not going to hurt me. It’s just… I love the emblem. I dig it. It gives me fire and some oomph. But now that it’s in the court of public opinion, it’s going to change. I wish it wouldn’t, but it will.”

Contrary to what McConaughey believes, protests over the team’s name are not a new phenomenon, but have actually been documented in Washington, DC newspapers since at least 1971, as Dan Steinberg pointed out in a Washington Post article this year. And while the actor may claim to know Native Americans who are fine with the name, at least 23 tribes and more than 50 organizations that represent various groups of Native Americans have officially condemned it. Consequently, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the US Patent and Trademark office voted to cancel the team’s federal trademark registrations this year, asserting that the name and logo are “disparaging to Native Americans.”