Johnny Depp sticks foot back in mouth:
cnn.com
Depp: 'I love my country'
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) --Denying any anti-American sentiment on his part, actor Johnny Depp said quotes attributed to him as likening the United States to a "dumb puppy" were inaccurate and taken out of context.
"I am an American. I love my country and have great hopes for it," Depp said in a statement. "It is for this reason that I speak candidly and sometimes critically about it. I have benefited greatly from the freedom that exists in my country and for this I am eternally grateful."
Depp, starring in the swashbuckling film "Pirates of the Caribbean," issued the statement a day after the German news magazine Stern published an interview in which he ridiculed Washington's confrontation with France, where he lives, over the U.S. war in Iraq.
The magazine quoted the actor as saying: "America is...like a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you, aggressive."
Explaining his comments a day later, Depp said he had been using a metaphor that was taken "radically out of context," adding, "There was no anti-American sentiment."
"What I was saying was that, compared to Europe, America is a very young country and we are still growing as a nation. My deepest apologies to those who were offended, affected, or hurt by this insanely twisted deformation of my words and intent."
Kentucky-born Depp, 40, lives in the south of France with his French wife, actress-singer Vanessa Paradis, and their children. |
