Jeremy Renner has doubled down on his joke about Avengers character Black Widow being “a slut” nearly two weeks after apologizing for the comment that landed him and co-star Chris Evans in hot water with fans.
“Mind you, we are talking about a fictional character and fictional behavior, but Conan if you slept with four of the six Avengers, no matter how much fun you had, you’d be a slut,” Renner, who plays Hawkeye in Marvel’s “Avengers” told Conan O’Brien Monday. “Just saying. I’d be a slut. Just saying.”
The incident stems from a press junket interview in which Renner and Evans were asked about Scarlett Johansson‘s character’s romantic relationship with Mark Ruffalo‘s character, Bruce Banner — a.k.a. the Hulk.
“She’s a slut,” Renner joked, while Evans cracked up and chimed in, “A complete whore.”
After critics called the joke “sexist” and “insulting,” Renner and Evans — who plays Captain America in the billion-dollar franchise — issued statements apologizing for what Evans called a “very juvenile and offensive” answer.
“I am sorry that this tasteless joke about a fictional character offended anyone,” Renner said. “It was not meant to be serious in any way. Just poking fun during an exhausting and tedious press tour.”
Evans noted his “regret,” but Renner doesn’t appear to feel very guilty about it.
“It was a joke, off-color, whatever, but I’m unapologetic about a lot of things,” Renner said on “Conan” when asked about the incident. “I got in a lot of Internet trouble. I guess that’s a thing now.”
“The Internet’s a brand new thing that’s creeping up on America,” Conan joked.
Watch the interview above.