American Sniper comments 'not meant to offend,' says actor Seth Rogen
The Canadian actor takes to Twitter to clarify his comments on Clint Eastwood's new movie
Seth Rogen responded to the outrage incited by a series of tweets he wrote regarding the film American Sniper in a statement issued exclusively to the Associated Press on Thursday, saying it wasn't his intent to offend anyone or to say anything with political implications.
The actor and filmmaker, fresh off of the whirlwind, Sony-hack-addled release of his film The Interview, was thrown back into the spotlight Sunday when he tweeted that "American Sniper kind of reminds me of the movie that's showing in the third act of (Inglourious) Basterds."
Quentin Tarantino's 2009 revenge fantasy film shows clips from a fake propaganda movie about a skilled Nazi sniper.
Online outlets including Fox News Insider, the Daily Caller and Brietbart concluded that Rogen's intent was to liken Clint Eastwood's fact-based drama about the late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle to "Nazi propaganda."
'My grandfather was a veteran'
On Monday, Rogen went back to Twitter to clarify that he "actually liked" Eastwood's film and that he wasn't comparing the two at all.
Conservative blogs, however, were not appeased. Celebrities like Dean Cain and Kid Rock joined in to publicly criticize Rogen, too.
In his statement Thursday, Rogen reiterated that the movie only reminded him of the other "because they both involved plots about the most lethal of snipers."
I truly hope this clears things up: <a href="http://t.co/1lLM4cA5je">pic.twitter.com/1lLM4cA5je</a>
—@Sethrogen- On mobile? See Seth Rogen's tweet here
He went on to explain that he would never compare the film to Nazi propaganda, and that he has nothing against Kyle or veterans in general.
"My grandfather was a veteran," Rogen said.
"My comment about the movie was not meant to have any political implications," he said. "Any political meaning was ascribed to my comment by news commentary."
Rogen also apologized for any offence his tweets might have caused. The actor concluded the statement by saying he hoped that "this clears things up."
With files from CBC News