Gary Oldman on anti-Semitic Playboy interview: ‘I should be an example and inspiration and I am an arsehole’

The Batman actor appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live to apologise once again to his fans and the Jewish community

Gary Oldman has apologised once again for a controversial Playboy interview, in which he defended Mel Gibson’s 2006 anti-Semitic behaviour.

The actor went on US chat show Jimmy Kimmel Live to discuss his remarks, in which he said we should “take a f**king joke and get over” Gibson’s comments.

“I am a public figure, I should be an example and inspiration and I am an arsehole,” he told Kimmel.

“I am 56. I should know better. So to them, my fans, I say I extend my apology and my love and best wishes to my fan base.”

He told Kimmel that his comments were “offensive, insensitive, pernicious and ill-informed”.

“I just basically shouldn't have used them in any context. But I did and I have deeply injured and wounded a great many people,” he said, before thanking the talk show host for allowing him to appear on the programme.

“It gives me the opportunity to say to those people that I am, from my heart, I am profoundly, profoundly sorry and deeply apologetic, especially to the fans because they have been so incredible to me and very loyal.”

“I just think that we're public figures and sometimes we're looked upon, we're are asked to be, social or cultural or political commentators, and, I can't speak for other people, but I'm not, clearly,” he continued.

Oldman’s comments received a backlash from fans and also from the officer who was subjected to Gibson’s anti-Semitic rant.

The Batman actor described how Hollywood was “run by Jews he said the wrong thing because he’s actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him”. He criticised the “hypocrisy” of political correctness.

“I don't know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we've all said those things,” the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy actor told Playboy.

“We're all f**king hypocrites. That's what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word n***** or that f**king Jew?”

Yesterday, he wrote a letter to the Anti-Defamation League, apologising for his offensive quotes and insisting he has an “enormous personal affinity for the Jewish people”.

“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 wrote.

“The Jewish People, persecuted thorough the ages, are the first to hear God's voice, and surely are the chosen people.”