Gary Oldman seeks an apology

It was not expected from The Dark Knight Rises actor Gary Oldman that he would support his Hollywood colleagues, Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin, in their disturbing comments against the Jewish and gay communities. Hence Oldman had to apologize for the same.

On June 24, in an open letter to the Anti-Defamation League Gary wrote, "I am deeply remorseful that comments I recently made in the Playboy Interview were offensive to many Jewish people.” His letter also added, "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." During his controversial interview with Playboy, Gary supported Gibson and Baldwin’s comments saying Mel Gibson "got drunk and said a few things, but we've all said those things. We're all (expletive) hypocrites." He also didn’t find any fault in Baldwin’s comment which was allegedly an anti-gay abuse. In the interview Gary 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 (money).”

In the letter he wrote, "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 community didn’t find Gary’s comments in his Playboy interview to be quite accepting. Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said, "Gary Oldman wants Jews to 'get over' what Mel Gibson said. But what Mel Gibson said, was the slogan that Adolf Hitler used to murder six million Jews.” Rabbi’s statement added, "(Gary's) comment that Hollywood is a town 'run by Jews' has a very familiar sinister ring to it that is the anthem of bigots and anti-Semites everywhere. That has nothing to do with political correctness.” Gary’s manager Douglas Urbanski defended him saying, "It simply cannot be read any other way, and to put it any other way is simply cherry picking something, stating it inaccurately, and creating news where there is none.” Gary will be seen next in his July 11 release, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.