Actor and director Sean Penn has commented on his joke about immigrants at last month's Oscars, saying he has absolutely no intention of apologizing for the comment that many have deemed offensive.
Namely, when presenting the Oscar for the best film, Penn shocked the politically correct audience by saying: "Who gave this son of a bitch a green card?" to then read the name of the winner - "Birdman".
The film was directed by Mexican Alejandro Iñárritu and many questioned whether the joke about immigrants was appropriate. A green card is a document that gives immigrants the right to permanent residence in the US, AP writes.
"It was absolutely hilarious to me. Sean and I have the kind of brutal relationship that only true friendship can survive," Iñárritu said after the Oscars.
Iñárritu worked with Pena on the film "21 Grams" in 2003 and the two have been close friends ever since.
"And I make a rude joke about him," added Iñárritu.
And while Iñárritu's refusal to find anything offensive in Penn's joke reassured the public, Penn had not commented on the whole case until yesterday.
"This kind of stupidity always surprises me. But I'm still hopeful," Penn said while promoting his new film, "The Gunman."
"The fact is that I understand it. That I see it all the time. When someone sees an opportunity to mold something, he does it and pulls the whole group to take a stand and not think about it," said Pen.
"I have absolutely no intention of apologizing. In fact, to anyone who was stupid enough not to see the irony in this, in a country that is so xenophobic, I can only say one big j...se," Penn said.
"If it were up to them, great filmmakers like Alejandro wouldn't even be working in this country," Penn said.
He also emphasized that his comment was intentional.
"It was a little bit of insider humor because I wanted him to be the first in the room to know that his movie had won," Penn said.
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