ABC/Randy Holmes(NEW YORK) — Gary Oldman has issued an apology for controversial comments he made to Playboy that gained plenty of attention this week.
In the interview with the magazine, Oldman touched upon Mel Gibson’s infamous anti-Semitic rant during his 2006 DUI arrest. Oldman said, “Mel Gibson is in a town that’s run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he’s actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him, and doesn’t need to feed him anymore because he’s got enough dough.”
The Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday chastised Oldman for the remark, stating he “should know better than to repeat tired anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish control of Hollywood.”
In response, Oldman released a statement, addressed to the ADL and obtained by Deadline.com, in which he said he is “deeply remorseful.” He said, “Upon reading my comments in print — I see how insensitive they may be, and how they may indeed contribute to the furtherance of a false stereotype. Anything that contributes to this stereotype is unacceptable, including my own words on the matter.”
In his conversation with Playboy, Oldman seemingly also defended Alec Baldwin’s past use of an anti-gay slur. He said, “Alec calling someone [an anti-gay slur] in the street while he’s pissed off coming out of his building because they won’t leave him alone. I don’t blame him. So they persecute.”
Oldman said that “political correctness is crap…take a f***ing joke. Get over it.”
Before Oldman’s apology was released, his manager insisted to Deadline.com that the 56-year-old British actor had not defended Gibson or Baldwin’s actions.
Elsewhere in the Playboy interview, Oldman claimed that Oscar voters who didn’t support 12 Years a Slave, this year’s best picture winner, were at risk of being deemed a racist.
Oldman stars in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which opens July 11.
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