Oliver Stone slammed for anti-Semitism

Reuters

TAKING IT BACK: Oliver Stone has apologised for comments made to a British newspaper.

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The US-based Anti-Defamation League has slammed filmmaker Oliver Stone for comments he made to The Sunday Times of London, calling the film director's views "anti-Semitic".

Stone has apologised for the comments, calling them "regretful".

Abraham Foxman, ADL national director, said: "Oliver Stone has once again shown his conspiratorial colors with his comments about 'Jewish domination of the media' and control over US foreign policy. His words conjure up some of the most stereotypical and conspiratorial notions of undue Jewish power and influence."

The ADL said Stone used an old stereotype "in a particularly egregious fashion by suggesting that Hitler has gotten an unfair shake because of Jewish influence."

When asked in an interview with the Sunday Times of London why he focused on the Holocaust in his latest filmmaking project, Stone replied: "The Jewish domination of the media".

He added: "They stay on top of every comment, the most powerful lobby in Washington. Israel has f***** up United States foreign policy for years."

Stone has issued an apology over the comments.

"In trying to make a broader point about the range of atrocities the Germans committed against many people, I made a clumsy association about the Holocaust, for which I am sorry and I regret," Stone said in a statement.

"Jews obviously do not control media or any other industry," the statement said.

"The fact that the Holocaust is still a very important, vivid and current matter today is, in fact, a great credit to the very hard work of a broad coalition to the remembrance of this atrocity - and it was an atrocity."

This isn't the first time Stone has made controversial comments about the Holocaust.

In January, he characterised Hitler as an "easy scapegoat" in a presentation to television critics in support of his upcoming Showtime miniseries Oliver Stone's Secret History of America.

- Reuters