Campaign Wins Apology for 'Sapphires' Cover

The U.S. distributor of acclaimed Australian film "The Sapphires" has reportedly apologized for the DVD cover which prompted outrage by placing the female Aboriginal stars of the movie in the background.

The DVD on sale in Australia shows the women clearly, but in the U.S. version they are "blue washed" and placed in the background while Irish actor Chris O'Dowd -- who plays their manager in the film -- is front and center in full color.

The U.S. cover caused a storm on social media, with O'Dowd himself tweeting that it was "ridiculous, misleading, ill-judged, insensitive and everything the film wasn't".

The women whose lives inspired the feel-good flick, singers who entertained troops in Vietnam and who battled racism and sexism along the way, had also protested against the cover art.

''What has upset us is that the DVD cover appears to miss that point (of the film) entirely,'' one of the original Sapphires, Naomi Mayers, told The Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday.

''It's disrespectful to the very talented young Aboriginal actors in the film, and it's disrespectful to us as a group. But in particular, it's disrespectful to women of color everywhere who have stood up against this sort of thing all their lives."

The Herald reported on Wednesday that the U.S. distributor Anchor Bay had provided a short statement in which it said it "regrets any unintentional upset caused by the upcoming U.S. DVD release of The Sapphires".

It said new cover art was being considered for future orders.

O'Dowd welcomed the news, tweeting, "great news! Well done all".