LOS ANGELES, June 24 (UPI) -- Gary Oldman is not a fan of political correctness.
The 56-year-old actor declared in a recent interview with Playboy that he "just think[s] political correctness is crap." Oldman went on to defend Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin, actors who have made racial and homophobic slurs in the past.
"Take a [expletive]ing joke. Get over it," the star begins.
"No one can take a joke anymore. I don't know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we've all said those things. We're all [expletive]ing hypocrites. That's what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word '[expletive]' or 'that [expletive]ing Jew'? I'm being brutally honest here. It's the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy."
"Alec calling someone an F-A-G in the street while he's pissed off coming out of his building because they won't leave him alone. I don't blame him," he continues.
"So they persecute. Mel Gibson is in a town that's run by Jews and he said the wrong thing ... He's like an outcast, a leper, you know? But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn't turned and said, 'That [expletive]ing kraut' or '[Expletive] those Germans,' whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That's what gets me. It's just the sheer hypocrisy of everyone."
Oldman acknowledged his statements may be inflammatory to some, and later denied he is a bigot. After admitting he's "defending all the wrong people," he cited political commentator Charles Krauthammer and musician David Bowie as voices of truth that he admires.
The actor will next appear in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes on July 11. He is also slated to star in Child 44 later this year and Flying Horse in 2016.
