"Begin Again" director apologizes for Keira Knightley comments
By
Ned Ehrbar
/ CBS News
John Carney wants the world to know that he "feels like a complete idiot" after seeing the uproar caused by his comments about Keira Knightley.
The "Once" and "Sing Street" director took the actress to task during an interview with the Independent, disparaging her work as an actress in his second film, "Begin Again," co-starring Mark Ruffalo and Adam Levine.
"I like to work with curious, proper film actors as opposed to movie stars," Carney said. "I don't want to rubbish Keira, but you know it's hard being a film actor and it requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don't think she's ready for yet, and I certainly don't think she was ready for on that film."
Several directors and colleagues came to Knightley's defense, admonishing Carney for his comments. And apparently the message got through to the man himself, as Carney took to Twitter to issue a lengthy, heartfelt apology for what he'd said.
"I said a number of things about Keira which were petty, mean and hurtful. I'm ashamed of myself that I could say such things and I've been trying to account for what they say about me," Carney wrote. "In trying to pick holes in my own work, I ended up blaming someone else. That's not only bad directing, that's shoddy behavior, that I am not in any way proud of. It's arrogant and disrespectful."
Carney has even reached out to Knightley himself. "I wrote to Keira personally to apologize, but I wanted to publicly and unreservedly apologize to her fans and friends and anyone else who I have offended," he added. "It's not something that I could ever justify, and will never repeat."
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"Begin Again" director apologizes for Keira Knightley comments
By Ned Ehrbar
/ CBS News
John Carney wants the world to know that he "feels like a complete idiot" after seeing the uproar caused by his comments about Keira Knightley.
The "Once" and "Sing Street" director took the actress to task during an interview with the Independent, disparaging her work as an actress in his second film, "Begin Again," co-starring Mark Ruffalo and Adam Levine.
"I like to work with curious, proper film actors as opposed to movie stars," Carney said. "I don't want to rubbish Keira, but you know it's hard being a film actor and it requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don't think she's ready for yet, and I certainly don't think she was ready for on that film."
Several directors and colleagues came to Knightley's defense, admonishing Carney for his comments. And apparently the message got through to the man himself, as Carney took to Twitter to issue a lengthy, heartfelt apology for what he'd said.
"I said a number of things about Keira which were petty, mean and hurtful. I'm ashamed of myself that I could say such things and I've been trying to account for what they say about me," Carney wrote. "In trying to pick holes in my own work, I ended up blaming someone else. That's not only bad directing, that's shoddy behavior, that I am not in any way proud of. It's arrogant and disrespectful."
Carney has even reached out to Knightley himself. "I wrote to Keira personally to apologize, but I wanted to publicly and unreservedly apologize to her fans and friends and anyone else who I have offended," he added. "It's not something that I could ever justify, and will never repeat."
Knightley, for her part, has stayed silent on the issue.
Ned Ehrbar is an entertainment producer for CBS News.
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