“I am deeply remorseful that comments I made in the Playboy interview were offensive to many Jewish people,” actor tells ADL.
By AVIVA LOEB
Actor Gary Oldman has issued a note of apology to the Anti-Defamation League in response to an interview with Playboypublished on Monday.“I am deeply remorseful that comments I made in the Playboy interview were offensive to many Jewish people,” Oldman said in his email to the ADL.In the interview, Oldman said Hollywood was a “town run by Jews” and defended anti-Semitic comments made by Mel Gibson, who in 2006 claimed that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.”Oldman said about Gibson: “He got drunk and said a few things, but we’ve all said those things.”In his email to the ADL, he said that upon reading his comments in print he could see how insensitive they may have been.“Anything that contributes to this stereotype is unacceptable, including my own words on that matter,” he said.Oldman said he hoped the ADL knew his apology was “heartfelt” and “genuine,” adding: “The Jewish People, persecuted through the ages, are the first to hear God’s voice, and surely are the chosen people.”He concluded his email by writing: “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.”