Like the Anti-Defamation League, we agree that Gary Oldman’s apology for his anti-Semitic remarks in Playboy was insufficient. 

The remarks in question:

I don’t know about Mel [Gibson]. He got drunk and said a few things, but we’ve all said those things. We’re all fucking hypocrites. That’s what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word nigger or that fucking Jew? I’m being brutally honest here. It’s the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy. Or maybe I should strike that and say “the N word” and “the F word,” though there are two F words now…. Alec [Baldwin] calling someone an F-A-G in the street while he’s pissed off coming out of his building because they won’t leave him alone. I don’t blame him. So they persecute. Mel Gibson is in a town that’s run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he’s actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him—and doesn’t need to feed him anymore because he’s got enough dough. He’s like an outcast, a leper, you know? But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn’t turned and said, “That fucking kraut” or “Fuck those Germans,” whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That’s what gets me. It’s just the sheer hypocrisy of everyone, that we all stand on this thing going, “Isn’t that shocking?”

And the apology:

Dear Gentlemen of the ADL:

I am deeply remorseful that comments I recently made in the Playboy Interview were offensive to many Jewish people. Upon reading my comments in print—I see how insensitive they may be, and how they may indeed contribute to the furtherance of a false stereotype. Anything that contributes to this stereotype is unacceptable, including my own words on the matter. If, during the interview, I had been asked to elaborate on this point I would have pointed out that I had just finished reading Neal Gabler’s superb book about the Jews and Hollywood, An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews invented Hollywood. The fact is that our business, and my own career specifically, owes an enormous debt to that contribution.

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

I would like to sign off with “Shalom Aleichem”—but under the circumstances, perhaps today I lose the right to use that phrase, so I will wish you all peace–Gary Oldman.

L’chaim!

Where to begin. There is no acknowledgment that actually, no, we have not “all said these things.” The policeman who arrested Mel Gibson, who is Jewish, fervently maintains that no, he has never “used the word ‘nigger’ or ‘that fucking Jew’.” [I punctuated correctly, since Playboy did not deign to.] As he told TMZ, “The N-word is a scary word.  I would never even dream of using it.  It sickens me that anyone would use that word…Jews have been persecuted and put down over the years. Why would I, as a Jew, do that to other races?” Furthermore, pointing out that you’d just read Neal Gabler’s book about Jews in the motion picture business is like saying that some of your best friends are Jewish. Just, no. (Ironically, the book itself points out that anti-Semitism was a factor both in driving early moguls into the movie business — immigrants, they were locked out of east coast business establishments — and in ensuring that they didn’t tackle Jewish subjects in their own films, what with being terrified of calling attention to themselves as Other.) 

Fun book. Gossipy social history about colorful Jewish dudes.

Oldman also blames the interviewer with “if, during the interview, I had been asked to elaborate on this point.” If only the interview had asked him to say why he was not the anti-Semite he sounded like! If you actually read the interview, writer David Hochman gave Oldman plenty of leeway to correct himself, yet Oldman keeps acknowledging that he knows he’s saying something shocking. He even says, “You have to edit and cut half of what I’ve said, because it’s going to make me sound like a bigot.” Oldman should also have acknowledged that comparing a Jew making derogatory remarks about Germans (which I fully acknowledge doing — I used to tell my children that wearing sandals with socks is WRONG and only acceptable if you are German, but now my children are German citizens and I’m at a total loss) is not parallel to non-Jews making derogatory remarks about Jews. In all seriousness, I’m not aware of vast swaths of Jews saying nasty things about Germans. (Nazis, sure. Not Germans.) And Oldman is engaging in the time-honored tradition of saying “What about black racism toward white people?” and “MISANDRY! MISANDRY! MISANDRY! WAAAAH!” When a less powerful group expresses anger toward a more powerful group, it is not equivalent to the reverse. The ADL’s perspective:

“While his apology may be heartfelt, Mr. Oldman does not understand why his words about Jewish control were so damaging and offensive, and it is therefore insufficient.”

“His reference to the Neal Gabler book he was reading only reinforces the notion that Jewish directors, producers and financiers are there in Hollywood as Jews.  They’re not, and the book does not draw that conclusion.  They are there acting as individuals.  They do not pursue a Jewish agenda or strategy.  They are there acting as professionals and Americans with skills working alongside many other non-Jews who are also in show business for the same reasons.”

“Mr. Oldman needs to recognize that his words, not just as they were written, but as he uttered them, are deeply offensive. And he needs to be sensitive to the fact that other remarks for which he has yet to apologize – including his disparaging remarks about the Pope and about gay people – were also deeply troubling and hurtful to many.”

“Whether they intend it or not, celebrities act as role models and bear an outsized responsibility for their words and their actions.  Oldman needs to make clear not only to the Jewish community but also his fans that his words were are predicated on offensive notions and, as such, are clearly unacceptable.”

I’m torn. People who tend to make sweeping statements about Jews, Blacks, gays and the Pope, and say they’re huge fans of Charles Krauthammer, tend not to understand at a deep cellular level why their beliefs are offensive to others. (I’d also like to point out that Oldman owes yet another apology in addition to those suggested by the ADL, what with suggesting in that same interview that Philip Seymour Hoffman killed himself because he looked in the mirror and still saw himself as fat.) Honestly, if it’s clear that the person’s bigotry is deep and wide as the Jordan river, what exactly do we want from them in terms of an apology? How does ritually demanding that they say remorseful things that they do not actually feel do anyone any good? How do we go beyond apology into education? (I’m asking myself here, not just you.)

I did have to laugh at Gary Oldman showing off about knowing the phrase “Shalom Aleichem.” I know the phrase “wanker.”