And so the inevitable cycle of insult and apology continues: Gary Oldman has released a statement to the Anti-Defamation League addressing the controversial remarks he made in a Playboy interview released yesterday. Earlier today, ADL National Director Abraham Foxman criticized Oldman’s comments, saying that they propagate anti-Semitic beliefs and the actor “should know better than to repeat tired anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish control of Hollywood.†Soon after, Oldman issued an apology, saying “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.â€
Here’s the full statement:
Dear Gentlemen of the ADL:
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 – Gary Oldman.
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi and the Pope are still waiting for their apologies.