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Foxman: "We welcome and accept Will Smith's statement that Hitler was a 'vicious killer' and that he did not mean for his remarks about the Nazi leader to be mistaken as praise."
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| By Israel Insider staff January 1, 2008 |
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The head of the Anti-Defamation league said Wednesday that he accepts Will Smith's explanation that he never praised Adolf Hitler. The Daily Record, a Scottish newspaper, quoted Smith as saying: "Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'let me do the most evil thing I can do today.' I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was 'good.'"
Smith said his remarks were misinterpreted, and that was good enough for ADL National Director Abe Foxman. "We welcome and accept Will Smith's statement that Hitler was a 'vicious killer' and that he did not mean for his remarks about the Nazi leader to be mistaken as praise," Foxman said in a statement.
Smith "took immediate steps to clarify his words" and condemn Hitler, Foxman said, and said that words "can be twisted by those with hate and bigotry in their hearts." He didn't indicated who was doing the twisting, but said that twistability was a cause for caution.
"This is why all celebrities bear a special responsibility to weigh their words carefully, and an obligation to speak out against racism and bigotry whenever even a whiff of it appears, as Will Smith has done in this instance," he said.
In a statement Monday, Smith called claims that he had positive feeling about Hitler "an awful and disgusting lie," and said he was furious about his remarks being misinterpreted.
"Adolf Hitler was a vile, heinous vicious killer responsible for one of the greatest acts of evil committed on this planet," the statement said. |
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