Now, we really really like Gary Oldman – need we say more than Leon and Sirius Black? – but boy does he sound like a complete and utter twat in a new Playboy interview.
Firstly, Gary seems to be pretty upset about the state of modern pop music and lashed out in an expletive riddled rant about an unnamed modern pop star. He said, ‘Reality TV to me is the museum of social decay. And what passes for music – it's all on that plateau. Who’s the hero for young people today? Some idiot who can’t fucking sing or write or who's shaking her ass and twerking in front of 11-year-olds.’
Yeah. Ouch.
We’re going to go out on a limb and suggest that Gary might be talking about Miley Cyrus here – can you name a more famous twerker on the planet right now? And we think Gary’s comments are a little bit unfair. Anyone who’s seen Miley’s amazing rendition of Jolene or Landslide will be aware that, twerk or no twerk, Miley can definitely sing. Beautifully.
Gary then went on to defend fellow actor Mel Gibson, who was accused of going on a racist rant in 2006, saying that anyone who criticised Mel was a ‘hypocrite’ because apparently we’ve all done it. Have we, Gary? Pretty sure we haven’t…
He said (amongst other things):
‘I don't know about Mel. 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 “n*****” 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.’
‘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 f*ing kraut,” or, “Fk those Germans,” whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That’s what gets me.’
Yeah. Really nice.
Gary has, since, issued an apology about defending Mel Gibson, and has accused Playboy of cherry-picking parts from a much longer interview and presenting them as a narrative. But he’s certainly not accusing them of misquoting him – which means he probably said those things. Oh Gary, what would Sirius Black say?
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophiecullinane
Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.