Brando Apologizes to Rabbis for Talk Show Remarks

Marlon Brando called his controversial televised remarks about Jews in Hollywood “unfortunate and incorrect,” and blamed them on “the pressures of appearing on a sound bite-oriented talk show,” according to two rabbis who met for three hours Friday with the 72-year-old actor.

At a news conference, Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper said Brando opened the meeting by addressing them in Yiddish. They said that at one point the actor broke into tears.

“We are satisfied that Mr. Brando is not an anti-Semite,” Hier said, adding that the actor had a broad knowledge of Jewish issues, and that he had sent his children to Jewish schools. Brando told Hier and Cooper that he intends to write a “long think piece” for a national publication to further clarify his remarks.

On the Cable News Network program “Larry King Live” on April 5, Brando said Hollywood was “run by Jews” who seldom show negative stereotypes of their own culture while permitting such depictions of other ethnic groups.