Depardieu sorry for urinating on airplane

PARIS, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Gerard Depardieu is sorry for urinating on an airplane floor after flight attendants told him he couldn't use the bathroom, a friend of the French actor says.

The 62-year-old actor urinated in front of fellow passengers earlier this week after crew members said he would have to wait until the plane took off to go to the rest room.

The "Green Card" and "Man in the Iron Mask" star was removed from a Paris flight to Dublin after the incident, but caught a later plane to Ireland where he is shooting "Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia."

Actor Edouard Baer, who was with Depardieu at the time, issued a statement to the BBC saying he had passed Depardieu a bottle in which to urinate but it overflowed on the floor.

"Gerard was upset at this and offered to clean up the mess," he said. "He has prostate problems and it was very worrying and humiliating for him. He was also stone-cold sober at the time. This is not the way he usually behaves."