As we’ve been discussing all week, director John Carney is a sexist a—hole. Carney gave an interview to the Independent over the weekend that got a ton of coverage because of his multiple verbal attacks on Keira Knightley. Carney directed Keira in Begin Again, and he apparently loathed the experience of working with her. Instead of simply making vague statements about how his experience wasn’t that great, he chose to attack Keira’s professionalism, her acting skills, her work ethic and her ability to be “honest” on camera. He basically said that she’s not a real actress, and she’s just a “supermodel.” You can review all of his many words here. It was awful.
Following the widespread coverage of the interview, many of Keira’s other directors and past coworkers stepped up to social media to defend her – go here to see. Keira never said a word about it, which… good for her. John Carney sounded like such a douche, and why should she have to stoop to his level? Well, the coverage got so bad that John Carney had to publicly apologize to Keira. He posted this on his Twitter:
From a director who feels like a complete idiot. pic.twitter.com/vfO8m4U2Hl
— John Carney (@jayceefactory) June 1, 2016
He misspelled her name, although I do that too, and I’m always having to go back and correct myself. In case you can’t read that, this is what he wrote:
“Recently, in a phone interview, the conversation turned to a discussion about a past film, ‘Begin Again,’ starring Kiera Knightley. I said a number of things about Keira which were petty, mean and hurtful. I’m ashamed of myself that I could say such things and I’ve been trying to account for what they say about me. In trying to pick holes in my own work, I ended up blaming someone else. That’s not only bad directing, that’s shoddy behaviour, that I am not in any way proud of. It’s arrogant and disrespectful. Keira was nothing but professional and dedicated during that film and she contributed hugely to its success. I wrote to Keira personally to apologise, but I wanted to publicly, and unreservedly apologise to her fans and friends and anyone else who I have offended. It’s not something that I could ever justify, and will never repeat.”
Do you think Keira will accept his apology? Do you think this is a decent apology? I’m glad it wasn’t “sorry you were offended” or “sorry that I was so honest.” What he said originally was “petty, mean and hurtful.” He SHOULD be ashamed of himself. And I’m glad he offered Keira a public and a private apology.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
As apologies go, that one is pretty good. What more could he say?
Well he’s only apologizing so that he might make another movie in this century so at this point it’s damage control. He’s made his point clear in the three interviews where he gratuitously rips her apart.
Yes. Kiera cultivated a lot of good will with studio higher ups when she was producing her own vehicles so I bet they put the screws on him. That, plus what high profile actress will ever agree to appear in his films after this display.
Yep, this is what a real apology looks like. Good for him. And kudos to Kiera for not getting down in the mud, or needlessly trying to defend herself. I’m so glad that other directors and colleagues were willing to speak out on her behalf. Good people should speak up when they see someone being wronged. Good outcome all the way around.
I agree, the apology is well written and hopefully heartfelt. However, I hope she doesn’t respond to him in public. If he sent her a private apology, I hope she responds privately (if she wishes to do so), but not publicly.
Yeah, I agree that’s a pretty good apology. Whatever the reasons are behind the public apology, I’m glad he basically called himself a douche.
All good.
Well at least a decent apology, right?!
Well maybe should not have shot his mouth off in the first place. And picked on the only woman. Maybe doesnt like women
Well at least he apologized. I was surprised by those comments, they really seemed to come from nowhere.
Apparently he’ made a few digs before. Someone on here found them and posted previous digs.
I watched most of the movie again. And the problem with his movie laid squarely at his feet. It starts off great, but really in then in so many places turns very contrived or pat and doesn’t feel real. Many scenes are trying to manipulate the audience as, oh, isn’t this cute or sweet, but not letting the audience feel it, more like trying to make them feel it. I agree with another poster on one of the other threads, like the scene in the alley with the kids and recording, so contrived
The issues with the movie were his as the writer and director, never Keira’s, who I think did a really good job. A good director and human being would have picked apart what went wrong in his mind on his own end, not turn that feeling on someone else and make digs at her every chance he got.
I think his apology seemed insightful into his behavior, not generic.
Yup. Jayna I was the poster in the previous thread. I also watched it again since this all blew up (it was playing on Showtime a couple of nights ago right?) and came away even more resolute in my opinion that the movie had writing/directing problems – not acting problems. In fact, if it wasn’t for the screen presence/acting of Keira and Mark Ruffalo, the movie would have been awful. if anything they made it a better movie.
I honestly believe why he’s saying this is to get people to watch it again (or for the first time). Hell, he has me downloading it to watch as I remember the trailer but never got around to watching.
He’s trolling in an intriguing fashion, but trolling nonetheless.
It does sound heartfelt. I like that he’s taken full responsibility for his words and essentially called himself an a*sshole. Good for him.
+1
Yes, isn’t it refreshing when someone actually takes responsibility for their words/actions?
We all say things we shouldn’t from time to time. That was an excellent apology.
That’s true but as others have pointed out, he has insulted her several times and in multiple interviews. It’s deeper than him being a jerk or rude, it seems like he has something personal against her.
Glad he apologized and this is one of the better celebrity apologizes I’ve seen but I doubt if there wasn’t such a backlash he would have done so.
Oh, I thought it was just the one time. Hmm. Not so great, then. Damage control?
@GoodNamesAllTaken
At least in two more time in earlier interviews from Den of Geek and Hey U Guys. In one he doesn’t call her by name but refers to her as a model (“the experience of working, let’s face it, with a model on my last film. And trying to get somebody to think like an actor who wasn’t an actor per se. I found that frustrating, and a lot of time was wasted trying to get somebody to flex a muscle that they just didn’t have”).
It doesn’t matter what went before. He apologised NOW. What more do people want?
That is one excellent, full apology. *This* is how one apologises! He humbles himself and takes full responsibility.. He could have offhandedly said he was sorry and pandered. He didn’t. Moreover, he contacted Keira and apologised to her.
This should be taught in schools. For those who think just saying I’m sorry is enough, take note as to how to really do it and really mean it. People rarely apologise so effusively. Even my best friend wasn’t capable of anything other than “I’m sorry”.
I believe his sincerity. It does happen.
he only apologized for this one interview that he got caught with. he said “a recent telephone interview”. completely glossed over the fact that he has been at her case multiple times before. he made it seem like he made 1 small mistake.
at first it seems like he came clean. but not really. if he truly wanted to come clean he would also admit to the other times he maligned her reputation. and admit that his pettiness toward her ran deeper than just 1 unfortunate interview.
This.
He only apologized because he got caught. Still a jerk.
I agree, GNAT and hmmm. It was a really good apology and he didn’t make any qualifers at all. PLUS he wrote to her personally. Might have been nice if he’d called, but perhaps she’s not taking them. I’m not sure I’d have picked up the phone if I saw it was him calling. 🙂
He wouldn’t have to apologize if he would think first. Either he felt that way and now he’s backtracking (most likely case) or he had a manic/drunk episode and feels foolish.
I wish people would stand by what they say or not say anything at all.
I’m glad it was an actual apology, not just that “I’m sorry you were offended” or “quotes were taken out of context” one. Hopefully he actually learns from this for future work.
It’s disingenuous because it wasn’t in just one interview as he glosses over in the “apology”, but in several of them which were even worse in my opinion. Even in the piece from The Independent, the conversation didn’t just turned to a discussion about Begin Again, he intentionally calls her out by name without any prompting from the get go and that proceeds to slam her FIVE more times in the same article.
The journalist asks: “Sing Street has had rave reviews. How do you feel about the reaction?”
and then he goes: “Well, it’s fantastic. I’m very surprised; it’s a small personal movie with no Keira Knightleys in it. It’s really rewarding.”
It would’ve been bad if he’d only just said that he was disappointed by the fact that he didn’t get her to act like he wanted her to but what he does, is character assassination through and through. I doubt he’d have apologized so quickly if he’d dissed on a lesser known actress with no industry support.
Agree. This is about salvaging one’s reputation. His agent / PR people probably told him, look, apologize publicly or who in their right mind would work with you again? It’s a good apology but apologies are meaningless if behaviour isn’t changed. So screw this guy who I’ve never heard of until this week.
I was going to say it was a decent apology, but after reading this, it seems he’s just apologizing because he was called out so publicly by so many people for being SUCH an a-hole, SO many times. Those kinds of apologies, “sorry because I got caught/called on it,” are not genuine IMO.
To me it was an honest apology. He let everyone in the world know he was wrong and a douche bag. Let’s move on, I’m sure Keira has. Sometimes it’s better to big the bigger person and just say “apology accepted”.
A nice apology but I doubt it was sincere. Considering how much he attacked Keira I think he meant it. John is apologizing because he didn’t expect the comments got.
Or perhaps the comments led to self-examination. Not everyone is a neanderthal.
Seriously? Dear God – he couldn’t have made a more authentic apology if he had walked through Dublin in a hessian shift with people shouting ‘shame’
Maybe we are so used to seeing fake apologies we just don’t recognise and ACTUAL one – this man means it….its full on Irish honesty.
Good point, hmmm. It could be a reaction to the backlash AND an example of genuine self-reflection.
But it does suck that it took lots of other people defending her for him to understand that he was taking out his own shortcomings on her. And to be honest, I think if her defenders consisted solely of young female fans and other actresses, he may have stayed silent. But his peers — other male directors — called him out too.
In fact, his apology basically paraphrases what one of them said… that his comments revealed more about himself than about Keira. But I hope he knows it revealed misogyny, in addition to deflection and pettiness and other things.
Of course it’s not sincere, but I fully expected to see people tripping over themselves to excuse him, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Meanwhile, over on the Bay thread there’s someone calling for the mutilation of an entire nationality based on his comments.
Its a decent apology. His latest movie Sing Street is getting great reviews. I think he is more comfortable with smaller production’s.
I saw it before all this turmoil happened. It’s a terrific movie.
I think he thoroughly misunderstood how Keira is viewed. He thought she was seen as a Kate Bosworth or Jessica Alba type, not a ‘real’ actress, not well-liked. He thought he could pin his failings on her and get away with it.
and since he had badmouthed her before in two separate interviews before this Independent one, and had gotten away with it, he might’ve thought that he was vindicated and became more brazen about it.
but then how he was proven wrong.
and nice this apology seems to be, i doubt his attitude will change.
were he not called out this time, would he have gone on and on to diss her (and other actresses like her in the future)? i truly believe he will.
@Pepper I think you nailed it. Keira is a pretty likeable actress. Women like her, men like her. She’s able to shift into different roles and you never really hear anything negative about her.
Know your enemy. He didn’t do his homework.
And that line of thinking would’ve been terrible and gross because no one deserves to be treated this way, irrespective of their talent, looks or profession.
Right? I mean, she has never had that tabloid reputation. She’s pretty low-key…plus, she’s been nominated for everything.
And he admitted/confessed he pinned his failings on her. Geez.
Because he happened to mess with the wrong person and will eventually want to make another movie in the future, which good luck with that. That’s where the contrition stems from, otherwise if he were so sorry, he would’ve apologized last week for his previous comments in articles that didn’t go viral. There’s nothing commendable about his actions.
Yep this is so true! he totally picked the wrong scapegoat & underestimated her industry clout and her supporters. It probably speaks to how low-key and easygoing she actually is… that he would underestimate her and write her off in this way. ie she doesn’t throw her weight around; but is extremely well connected and respected professional in her industry. Lets hope he learns from this to not be such a douchebag…. rather than the lesson of how to pick his next scapegoat more carefully!
This is exactly what I think as well. Well written apology but I doubt his sincerity.
The apology feels heartfelt. Sounds as if hes done a little self evaluation and has come to understand himself a little better.
….When you thought you’d pull the “Temperamental Artiste” Bullsh!t card but The Ingénue knows all the people, has all the connections and you end up being “that sh!tty guy”
That’s some truth there.
Yeah, I read he did this to her before, but he only got caught now.
Imminent and looking at him and thinking about how often he has shaded KK,I doubt that this is sincere and I hope that KK never says anything about the mess.
It’s a great apology I will give him that. I’m not sure if it’s sincere since it’s not the first time he spoke negatively about her in the press. He apoligized now when his diss became more public and others took notice.
That’s like saying people can’t correct their behaviour patterns or change.
Well done! He actually apologized took ownership and kept it short. I’m so glad he didn’t damonsplain the whole thing and write an essay.
I’m so shocked to read an apology that’s actually an apology, without any bullshit qualification. I don’t know where his meanness came from but yeah, it does say something about him and he needs to really examine that because it ain’t pretty.
IDK. Yes, he wrote a lovely apology that covered all of the bases, but only after several male directors with higher profiles than his called him out. So maybe he actually did some soul searching and now is a new person who wants to set things straight? But I guess I’m just jaded and cynical, because I’m not sure that I believe that.
If someone called me all kinds of names on more than one occasion, and belittled me both as a professional and as a person, I would drop them like a hot potato. He’s definitely proven himself to be a sexist douchebag. As far as I’m concerned, it will take more than one carefully worded apology for him to prove that he’s changed. Because seriously? People can change, but it usually doesn’t just happen overnight!
I bet Mark Ruffalo gave him shit.
tiny martian, didn’t see your comment before I posted my reply about the male directors… but I noticed that too. The misogyny was the creepiest part about his “meanness”, and I’m not sure he gets that… but I’m pretty sure he’s only taking accountability because his male peers called him out.
And msd, you’re right. Mark defends women, and I haven’t seen any public comments from him, but he very well could’ve picked up the phone and given the guy a reaming.
Ok, this is actually a decent apology.
In an age of “sorry/not sorry” & “that was not my intention” this is what an actual apology should look like. And you know what, I respect him for publicly taking ownership of his behaviour, and identifying what went wrong.
Note to other public figures: THIS is how you apologize. No #sorrynotsorry, no equivocating, no dodging, just a sincere apology and a promise to do better in the future.
He’s still an @sshole, but I can’t sh!t on him for that apology. Proper.
It was a good apology, but it needed to be. He had potentially nuked his own career there. Hollywood can be vindictive about shutting out someone who alienates the wrong people.
That last line was definitely a matter of showing his belly to say, “Pretty-please still hire me; I’ll never break the code again.”
Hmmm….can’t see her ‘entourage’ in any of the pics. They must be lurking just off camera.
If it were me, I would accept the apologies. Seriously well written/put/said.