"I realised it the minute I said it, and I am truly sorry."
‘American Hustle’ director David O Russell has been forced to apologise after comparing Jennifer Lawrence’s schedule to “12 years of slavery.”
Russell was praising Lawrence’s work rate on the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise when he made the faux pas in an interview with the New York Daily News while attending the Australian Academy’s AACTA awards last week.
His words were a play on Steve McQueen’s ’12 Years A Slave,’ thought to be one of ‘American Hustle’s biggest rivals for Oscars in March.
"I'll tell you what it is about that girl – talk about 12 years of slavery, that's what the franchise is," Russell said, immediately adding: "And I'm going to get in so much trouble for saying that."
The PC brigade were, predictably, up in arms over the comment and Russell was quick to make a full apology.
"Clearly I used a stupid analogy in a poor attempt at humour," Russell said in a statement. "I realised it the minute I said it, and I am truly sorry."
