Gary Oldman has apologized for his controversial Playboy remarks.
“I am deeply remorseful that comments I recently made in the Playboy interview were offensive to many Jewish people,” the actor said Tuesday in a statement given to the Anti-Defamation League.
“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.”
The actor also acknowledged the Jewish people’s history of persecution, saying, “I hope you will know that this apology is heartfelt, genuine, and that I have an enormous personal affinity for the Jewish people in general, and those specifically in my life. The Jewish people, persecuted thorough [sic] the ages, are the first to hear God’s voice, and surely are the chosen people.”
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As TheWrap previously reported, the Anti-Defamation League’s national director Abraham H. Foxman denounced the actor over comments he says fed “into a classic anti-Semitic canard about supposed Jewish control of Hollywood.”
This is Oldman’s first statement since the interview was published on Monday, but earlier his manager Douglas Urbanski came to the actor’s defense, claiming the Playboy comments were reasonable when taken in full context.
Below is a copy of Gary Oldman‘s statement to the Anti-Defamation League in its entirety:
“I am deeply remorseful that comments I recently made in the Playboy Interview were offensive to many Jewish people. 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. If, during the interview, I had been asked to elaborate on this point I would have pointed out that I had just finished reading Neal Gabler’s superb book about the Jews and Hollywood, An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews invented Hollywood. The fact is that our business, and my own career specifically, owes an enormous debt to that contribution.
I hope you will know that this apology is heartfelt, genuine, and that I have an enormous personal affinity for the Jewish people in general, and those specifically in my life. The Jewish People, persecuted thorough the ages, are the first to hear God’s voice, and surely are the chosen people.
I would like to sign off with “Shalom Aleichem”–but under the circumstances, perhaps today I lose the right to use that phrase, so I will wish you all peace”