AP Exclusive: Rogen responds to ‘American Sniper’ comments

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LOS ANGELES — Seth Rogen responded to the outrage incited by a series of tweets he wrote regarding the
film "American Sniper" in a statement issued exclusively to the Associated Press on Thursday,
saying it wasn’t his intent to offend anyone or to say anything with political implications.
The actor and filmmaker, fresh off of the whirlwind, Sony-hack-addled release of his film "The
Interview," was thrown back into the spotlight Sunday when he tweeted that "American Sniper
kind of reminds me of the movie that’s showing in the third act of (Inglourious) Basterds."
Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 revenge fantasy film shows clips from a fake propaganda movie about a skilled
Nazi sniper.
Online outlets including Fox News Insider, the Daily Caller and Brietbart concluded that Rogen’s intent
was to liken Clint Eastwood’s fact-based drama about the late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle to "Nazi
propaganda."
On Monday, Rogen went back to Twitter to clarify that he "actually liked" Eastwood’s film and
that he wasn’t comparing the two at all.
Conservative blogs, however, were not appeased. Celebrities like Dean Cain and Kid Rock joined in to
publicly criticize Rogen, too.
In his statement Thursday, Rogen reiterated that the movie only reminded him of the other "because
they both involved plots about the most lethal of snipers."
He went on to explain that he would never compare the film to Nazi propaganda, and that he has nothing
against Kyle or veterans in general.
"My grandfather was a veteran," Rogen said.
"My comment about the movie was not meant to have any political implications," he said.
"Any political meaning was ascribed to my comment by news commentary."
Rogen also apologized for any offense his tweets might have caused. The actor concluded the statement by
saying he hoped that "this clears things up."
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