The British actor Gary Oldman on Tuesday apologized after claiming in a 'Playboy' interview that Hollywood was a "town run by Jews." Oldman said fellow actor and director Mel Gibson was being unfairly ostracized over his anti-Semitic remarks.
Following criticism by Jewish organizations, Oldman issued an apology in which he described Jews as “the chosen people.”
In a statement addressing the “gentlemen” of Anti-Defamation League, he said: “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.
The 56-year-old added: "Anything that contributes to this stereotype is unacceptable, including my own words on the matter.” Oldman also tried to distance himself from his statements in the forthcoming edition of the erotic magazine, insisting he was a huge admirer of the contribution Jewish people have made to show business.
“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.”
He concluded by asking for forgiveness, going as far as to say he was unworthy of using a Hebrew greeting meaning "Shalom aleichum.”
The movie star got himself in trouble after defending scandal-scarred actors Gibson and Alec Baldwin, blaming “political correctness” in Hollywood for their diminished careers. "I don't know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we've all said those things," Oldman told 'Playboy'. "We're all f-----g hypocrites. That's what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word n----r or that fucking J--? I'm being brutally honest here. It's the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy.
“So they persecute. 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," added the self-proclaimed Libertarian in a town of liberals. He's like an outcast, a leper, you know? But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn't turned and said, ‘That f---- kraut" or ‘F--- those Germans,’ whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That's what gets me.”
Gary Oldman gained international renown as Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991) and Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). He went on to play the antagonist of motion pictures such as True Romance (1993) Léon: The Professional (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), Air Force One (1997), and The Contender (2000), for which he garnered Independent Spirit- and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
In later years, Oldman became known for his portrayals of characters like Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Goblet of Fire (2005), Order of the Phoenix (2007) and Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011); James Gordon in Christopher Nolan's Batman series (2005–2012); and George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), which earned him Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for Best Actor.
