Oliver Stone has apologized for “speaking ignorantly” with regard to the 2023 blockbuster “Barbie,” noting that his headline-making remarks were made well before he’d gotten the chance to view the Oscar-nominated film.
“Very disappointed to see Deadline, a publication I respect, run this sensationalistic, out-of-context statement I made about ‘Barbie’ weeks before the film came out,” the four-time Academy Award-winning director wrote on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram Monday night. “At the time, I was busy promoting my nuclear documentary in Europe and had little to no knowledge of the project beyond its title.”
Stone went on to note that he watched “Barbie” in a theater and “appreciated the film for its originality and its themes.” He also praised director Greta Gerwig and described her 2017 film “Lady Bird” as one of his “favorites of that year.”
He concluded, “I wish Greta and the entire ‘Barbie’ team good fortune at the Oscars.”
On Monday, Deadline published an article that featured quotes Stone had made in a June 2023 interview with City A.M., a British publication. In it, the “Platoon” and “Natural Born Killers” director fired off at actor Ryan Gosling, who portrays Ken in “Barbie,” for not focusing on “more serious films.”
“Ryan Gosling is wasting his time if he’s doing that shit for money. He should be doing more serious films,” Stone said. “He shouldn’t be a part of this infantilization of Hollywood. Now it’s all fantasy, fantasy, fantasy, including all the war pictures: fantasy, fantasy.”
Elsewhere in the interview, he also took shots at the “Fast and the Furious” and “John Wick” franchises.
“Oh yeah, so on the plane I watched ‘John Wick,’ which is three hours and some,” he said. “And I fell asleep about 778 times during it. I kept waking up and having to face him killing more people. It’s like the world has degenerated into non-logic.”
Despite what Stone may or may not have thought about his “Barbie” role, Gosling on Tuesday received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film itself received snagged a total of eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for America Ferrera.
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