Ben Stiller is standing by his film Tropic Thunder despite years of controversy.
The man behind the movie's lead character Tugg Speedman hit back at a tweet claiming he had apologised for appearing in the controversial 2007 movie, which sends up multiple stereotypes and features Robert Downey Jr. in blackface.
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"I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder. Don’t know who told you that. It’s always been a controversial movie since when we opened," he tweeted.
Stiller added: "Proud of it and the work everyone did on it."
The Meet the Fockers star was responding to a tweet directed at him that read: "@BenStiller Please stop apologising for doing this movie. It was and still is funny AF.
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"Even funnier now, with cancel culture the way it is. It's a MOVIE. Ya'll [sic] can just get over it.
"I was DYING laughing when I first saw it back in the day and so was everyone else."
Despite Stiller emphasising he was not apologising for the film, the Twitter user replied: "I'm guessing people saw this.... and took it, misconstrued it and ran with it.
The Twitter user also did not acknowledge that they had done precisely that.
Instead, they doubled down, adding: "I stand with you bro."
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The Twitter user shared a tweet from Stiller from 2018 that read: "Actually Tropic Thunder was boycotted 10 years ago when it came out, and I apologised then.
"It was always meant to make fun of actors trying to do anything to win awards."
Others praised Ben Stiller for not feeling pressured into an apology for his past work.
One Twitter user responded: "Good for you. People have to not let themselves be 'bullied' into apologies for comedy routines, literature, films, or art they produced."
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They added: "Particularly, when something that was acceptable at the time is deemed unacceptable now due to a shift in a segment of society’s norms."
Another commented: "Never apologise for it. Downey Jr. deserved an Oscar for that movie."
A third said: "It's a classic, well done. Not sure which I would have to pick between it, Zoolander and Dodgeball but they make a nice trinity of classic comedies."
Robert Downey Jr. has also previously argued the film aimed to satirise Hollywood with a scathing commentary on blackface and the depiction of people with mental disabilities.
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Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience in 2020, Downey Jr. said about appearing in blackface: "[Ben] knew exactly what the vision for this was, he executed it, it was impossible to not have it be an offensive nightmare of a movie.
"And 90 percent of my Black friends were like, ‘Dude, that was great'.
"I can’t disagree with [the other 10 percent], but I know where my heart lies."
Topics: Celebrity, TV and Film, Racism
Rachel Lang